41st Padilla Bay Christmas Bird Count

National Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count is the nation’s longest-running citizen science bird project. Over a century’s worth of data has been collected since the project began, and now its as much of a tradition for many friends and families as it is a massive scientific project. Data from the Christmas Bird Count has been used in countless important research discoveries, including National Audubon’s landmark Birds and Climate Change study.

The Skagit Audubon organizes the Padilla Bay Christmas Bird count each year, and it is looking for volunteers to take part. The participants work in groups to observe and record bird species and total numbers. In recent years the average number of species recorded has been around 128 and the total counts usually exceed 100,000.

For more information or to sign up to participate, please contact Tim Manns, Conservation Chair of Skagit Audubon: conservation@skagitaudubon.org or 360 334 8985. Please note that participants should be experienced birders. Skagit Audubon welcomes beginning birders to join their field trips, which are great opportunities to grow your birding skills from any level.

You can learn more about the history of the Christmas Bird Count here.