The following is the Participant Letter for the Ludington Christmas Bird Count 2011.

Ludington Christmas Bird Count: Monday, December 19, 2011

Welcome to the Ludington Christmas Bird Count (CBC) ! The Ludington CBC follows the National Audubon Society (NAS) format, and count results are published in a summary in a special issue of American Birds. To aid in the production of the database and publications, NAS enacts a nominal $5.00 fee per CBC participant (mail me a check made to NAS or give to me at the tally). This fee applies only to field observers, and is exempt for feeder watchers and those 18 years old and under. The NAS CBC issue is sent to all participants that pay the fee, usually a year later.

This letter accompanies a map of the Ludington CBC count circle (a 7.5-mile radius from the center established at the intersection of Pere Marquette Highway/Old US 31 and M-10), a list of bird species that should have written details if observed, and a winter bird tally sheet. To ensure no duplication of counting, field observers must restrict their tally to their assigned area of the count circle (do not count birds outside the circle, even if you are inside the circle). New field observers that wish to cover areas beyond their own property should contact me for assignment of a section of the count circle needing coverage (by car and/or foot). Of course, make a note of any rare birds seen regardless of where they are observed in the count circle. Any rare or odd-looking birds should be photographed to aid in identification later !!

Other count considerations include:

• Field observers should be prepared for the weather, with appropriate footwear, layered clothing, raingear if needed, food & hot beverage, pencil & tally sheet, and binoculars &/or spotting scope.
• Keep track of the number of participants and number of parties (should you break-up into separate groups), birding miles by foot and by car (or by skiis or snowshoes !), and hours by foot, by car, etc. Also, keep track of miles and hours for owling, and keep notes of your beginning and ending times.
• To locate as many birds as possible, I strongly encourage field observers to actively “spish-up” birds wherever you go. Without doing this, you may miss as much as 90 percent of the birds in your area !
• Pre-count scouting of your route a week or a few days ahead is highly recommended to ensure that there are no unexpected road or bridge closures, and to more quickly find those scarcer birds on the actual count day.
• For consistency, try to follow the same census route each year, and preferably at the same times of day as well.
• If you re-trace your route in some locations (back to your car for example), do not re-count birds (however, new species can be counted).
• In addition to count day, count week (cw) birds are those species not seen on count day but are observed the 3 days before the count or the 3 days after the count (numbers of cw birds are not recorded).
• Feeder watchers should include birds seen on and adjacent to feeders, but only the maximum number of a species seen at one time (e.g., 5 chickadees total, not 32 chickadee visits !). Be sure to mark the number of hours watching feeders, and the number of feeders. Also, note that purple finches have deeply forked tails vs. shallowly forked for house finches, and that female purple finches have a bold white stripe above each eye. House finches are usually much more numerous than purple finches. Lastly, chipping sparrows are very rare anywhere in Michigan in winter, and need to be documented !
• Sunrise is at 8:16 a.m. and Sunset is at 5:09 p.m.     

The CBC tally will again be located in Ludington on the west side of Nelson Road at the Sherman Oaks Apartments “Community Room.” We have reserved the room from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on count day. The tally will occur from 6:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., but we encourage participants to come early to sum up their totals (bring a calculator), hours (subtract lunch break), and miles info, etc., and to socialize or share their best sightings. Also, feel free to bring a take-out dinner with you if you come early.

If you can not attend the tally, your results can be emailed to me at david.dister@gmail.com or by mail to Dave Dister, 2365 N. Lakeshore Drive, Ludington, MI  49431. Should you have any questions, I can also be reached by phone at (231) 845-7574. The results of the count will be emailed to participants, and also will be noted in my January article in the Ludington Daily News. Thank you again for your help in the Ludington CBC !

Good Birding !

Dave Dister

See Results of Bird Count below