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Feb
16
Saturday
Feb
16
Sat
Education :: Misc
Great Backyard Bird Count
9:00 AM
Swan River Hall
Description:
AUDUBON CELEBRATES GREAT BACKYARD BIRD COUNT WITH FIELD TRIPS

Join Flathead Audubon on Saturday, February 16 and Sunday, February 17 on two great winter birding field trips that celebrate the 2013 Great Backyard Bird Count. Both are half-day trips geared to families who want to get out and see birds together. However, everyone is welcome. Bring binoculars, snacks and warm clothes. Plan to carpool as much as possible. Please sign up as space may be limited. Field trip leaders will each have a spotting scope available and provide copies of Great Backyard Bird Count forms on each field trip.

Swan River/Bigfork GBBCField Trip Saturday, February 16:
Meet at 9 a.m. at the Swan River Hall on Highway 83 across from Swan River School and the Echo Lake Café to see birds in the Bigfork and Swan River area. To sign up and for more information, contact trip leader Kathy Ross at 837-3837 or mtkat@montanaport.net.

Flathead Valley GBBC Field Trip Sunday, February 17:
Meet at 9 a.m. at Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, 490 North Meridian Road, Kalispell to tour the best winter birding areas in the Flathead. Extra binoculars will be available. To sign up and for more information, contact trip leader Bob Lee at 270-0371 or rml3@centurytel.net.

The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) takes place Friday, February 15 through Monday, February 18. It is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where birds are. Everyone is welcome—from beginning bird watchers to experts. Take as little as 15 minutes on one day, or count for as long as you like each day of the event. The GBBC is free, fun and easy—and it helps the birds. Participants tally the number of individual birds of each species they see and enter these numbers on the GBBC website.

As the count progresses anyone with internet access can explore what is being reported from their own towns or from anywhere in the world. Participants may also send in photographs of the birds they see for the GBBC photo contest. A selection of images is posted in the online photo gallery.

Why count birds? Scientists and bird enthusiasts can learn a lot by knowing where the birds are. No single scientist or team of scientists could hope to document and understand the complex distribution and movements of so many species in such a short time. Scientists use the GBBC information, along with observations from other citizen-science projects, such as the Christmas Bird Count, Project FeederWatch and eBird, to learn what is happening to bird populations and to help investigate far-reaching questions. To participate and for more information, go to http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/whycount.html.
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Age Group: All Ages
Venue: Swan River Hall
Address: Highway 83 across from Swan River School and the Echo Lake Café
Phone: 837-3837

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