Christmas Bird Count
Saturday, December 14th, 2024
JOIN THE COUNT FOR FUN AND SCIENCE
The EAS CBC is an all-volunteer project, and we have three ways for you to participate.
Our chapter has 15 teams being led by experienced birders who are accepting 3-8 volunteer participants.
We also support at-home feeder watchers who count birds at their home feeder or other locations within the 25-mile diameter circle centered on Beaver Lake in Sammamish. View our CBC Count Circle here and see if your address falls inside the circle (top left for search field).
Everyone, whether birding or not, is invited to join the CBC dinner after the count.
Registration for the 2024 Eastside Audubon CBC will be open on November 4. We are recruiting volunteers to join CBC teams or for feeder-watching at home. Everyone is welcome to become a feeder watcher, join a field team, and join the CBC dinner. We will have 15 field teams this year.
BIRD COUNT HISTORY
The CBC is the world’s largest and longest-running community science data collection project. The 2024-2025 count period from December 14 to January 5 marks the 125 th CBC sponsored by the National Audubon Society. It will be Eastside Audubon’s 41 st CBC.
The Christmas Bird Count began in 1900, when conservationists sought to re-direct what had been an annual contest to see who could kill the most birds during the Christmas holiday, to an annual census of birds. Despite the name, the CBC has no affiliation with Christmas and everyone over the age of 18 is welcome to participate in the CBC bird survey.
All results are tallied by a count compiler and submitted to the National Audubon Society. The valuable data gathered on wintering bird populations will support important research like the 3 Billion Birds report and other scientific publications. We report the key findings from the Eastside Audubon count in our newsletter, The Corvid Crier.
Please contact Andy McCormick with any questions or comments about the event, at amccormick@eastsideaudubon.org, or 425-518-0892.
JOIN A FIELD TEAM
Join a team of birders of varying skill levels led by an advanced birder to collect data for the 124th annual Christmas Bird Count sponsored by the National Audubon Society. This year is Eastside Audubon’s 41st CBC. Expect to see a lot of birds as teams are in the field from 8:00 a.m. to about 4:00 p.m. Please note the registration date cut off to join a field team is Tuesday December 10th.
Group 1: East Snoqualmie Valley – Maureen Sunn and Kendall Wiggins
This route stays east of the Snoqualmie River and stops at many locations in Carnation and vicinity. It includes stops near the Tolt River. The team drives between locations and walks at each one.
Group 2: West Snoqualmie Valley SW of Carnation – Rusty Hazzard
The team begins at Tolt-MacDonald Park and follows the west side of the Snoqualmie Rivers to Carnation Marsh, Blue Heron Golf Course, and several other stops along the way to Fall City. Features both car and walking birding.
Group 3: West Snoqualmie Valley NW of Carnation – Andy McCormick
This team birds along West Snoqualmie Valley Road, and looks for birds in farmland, at Sikes Lake, Chinook Bend, and a section of Carnation Farms. Both car birding and walking are included.
Group 4: Marymoor Park – Michael Hobbs
This is a walking route within Marymoor Park and a wide variety of birds are usually seen in meadows and along the Sammamish River and shore of Lake Sammamish.
Group 5: Ames Lake & East Redmond – Jordan Roderick
Beginning at the Evans Creek Preserve the route follows Ames Lake-Carnation Road, the Powerline Trail, the Red Brick Road and Perigo Park in Redmond.
Group 6: Sammamish and Pine Lake – Stan Wood
The team drives between stops on the Sammamish Plateau and walks at Soaring Eagle Park, the Sammamish Commons, Beaver Lake Park, Pine Lake Park, Yellow Lake, and Klahanie Park.
Group 7: Fall City and Preston – Alex Meilleur
The route begins along Fish Hatchery Road at the Snoqualmie Falls Golf Course, and moves to Twin Rivers Golf Course, Lake Alice Road, and the Preston-Snoqualmie Trail. Includes both car birding and walking.
Group 8: East Lake Sammamish Trail-South –Young Birders Group
This is a walking route that covers the boat launch and a trail within Lake Sammamish State Park, and the southern half of the East Lake Sammamish Trail. This opportunity is open exclusively to young birders.
Group 9: East Lake Sammamish Trail -North – Lori Danielson
This is a walking route which begins in Redmond and covers an eastern section of Marymoor Park, and several stops along the northern half of the East Lake Sammamish Trail. There is some driving between stops.
Group 10: West Lake Sammamish Parks – Kathy Kuyper
The route covers six parks along the western shore of Lake Sammamish including Idylwood Beach Park, Ardmore Park, Tam O’Shanter Park, and Weona Beach County Park. The team drives between parks and walks at each one.
Group 11: Lake Sammamish State Park – Carl Haynie
This is a walking route which traverses most of Lake Sammamish State Park mixing lakefront birding with woodland birding.
Group 12: Lake Hills Greenbelt – Tricia Kishel and Tim McGruder
This walking route begins at Phantom Lake in Bellevue and traverses the Greenbelt trail to Larsen Lake and Blueberry Farm. The team also drives to two other stops.
Group 13: Issaquah Fish Hatchery – TBD
This is a restricted area, and we are not seeking volunteers for this section.
Group 14: Issaquah Creek – Greg Harrington
This route begins at Pickering Ponds and follows Issaquah Creek through Issaquah stopping at Confluence Park, Sycamore Creek and Tibbets Valley Park.
Group 15: Issaquah Alps – Jeremy Lucas
This route follows the Issaquah Alps. It begins at Tradition Lake in Issaquah, and ascends to Lewis Creek Park, and then up into the Cougar Mountain Regional Wildlife Nature Park at Red Town Trailhead and the Harvey Manning Trailhead for high elevation forest birding.