BEEKMANTOWN — Local bird watchers caught an eyeful at Point Au Roche State Park for this year’s Great Backyard Bird Count.
Park Naturalists led two morning sessions on Saturday with one for adults only and another for all ages at the Park Nature Center.
BIRDS OF ALL SIZES
This year, bird watchers and park naturalists spotted blue jays, grouse, chickadees, waterfowl species, sparrows, cardinals, crows and more.
“It was a lot of fun,” second-time counter Ilona Flores said.
“We like to use the Merlin app to keep track of what birds we see at the feeder in our backyard.”
Flores and her child came prepared with binoculars and a little bird identification book as well.
KEEPING TRACK
Attendees used binoculars to spot birds high in the snow-capped trees, and Cornell Lab’s app Merlin Bird ID to identify which birds they are seeing or hearing. This app is available for free on iOS and android devices.
The count started at the nature center and the group walked along the trails toward the lake where some members of a duck species were seen splashing in the water.
February is said to be a good time for the count because the birds are not in the process of migrating.
NEW HOBBY
This event is also a good opportunity for novice bird watchers to practice and hone their skills.
“This is my first time here, to one of these events,” said Jenny Patterson, novice bird watcher and frequenter of the Nature Center.
“I have been getting into watching birds these past few months. I installed a feeder at home to help spot them.”
GREAT BACKYARD BIRD COUNT
The Great Backyard Bird Count is a global, annual event which spans four days beginning this year on Friday, Feb. 16 and running until Monday, Feb. 19.
During this four-day event people are encouraged to spend at least 15 minutes outdoors, including but not limited to, their backyard to observe, count and report the number of birds seen and what species.
The Great Backyard Bird Count was launched in 1998 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society as the first online citizen-science project to collect data on wild birds and to display results in near real time.