Puck
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We are starting our second year for the Crawford Notch Circle but a 107 year tradition. Last year we had 1-2' of snow. High winds on the peaks. It was great except there were very few birds...no food. However, this year there is an abundant cone crop and we expect a good result. We could set a national record for blackback woodpecker and spruce grouse.
People of all levels can participate. Last year we were joined by members of the NH Audubon, The Forest Service, AMC staff and naturalists and two VFTTers.
Contact if you have any questions.
Thanks
Craig
Here is the AMC press release;
AMC To Host New Audubon Christmas Bird Count Dec. 16, 2006
All Birders and Nature Enthusiasts are invited to take part.
Bretton Woods NH - The Appalachian Mountain Club calls upon all outdoors enthusiasts throughout the region to participate in the National Audubon Society’s 107-year-old winter tradition, the Annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC), to be held on Saturday, Dec. 16at the AMC’s Highland Center at Crawford Notch.
The CBC provides a way to get out and have fun birding and contribute important information that will affect bird and nature conservation. The event is open to birders of all skill levels. Attendees will take part in what is sure to become a holiday tradition.
Participants can make a weekend of it and enjoy the hospitality, activities, and learning opportunities provided at the Highland Center. AMC has created a special lodging-and-events package for event participants.
The CBC began over a century ago when 27 conservationists in 25 localities, led by scientist and writer Frank Chapman, changed the course of ornithological history. On Christmas Day 1890, the small group posed an alternative to the “side hunt,” a Christmas Day activity in which teams competed to see who could shoot the most birds and small mammals. Instead Chapman proposed to identify, count and, record all the birds they saw, founding what is now considered to be the world’s most significant citizens-based conservation effort and a more than century old institution. Now more than 2,000 individual counts will occur throughout the Americas from Dec.14, 2006 to Jan. 5, 2007.
With its 130-year history of promoting the protection, enjoyment, and wise use of the mountains, rivers, and trails of the Appalachian region and its longstanding dedication to conservation, AMC is pleased to host this Christmas Bird Count at the Highland Center at Crawford Notch for a second year. The CBC circle is 15 miles in diameter, centered on the AMC Highland Center in Crawford Notch. Within the circle are the water habitats of Saco and Ammonoosuc lakes as well as bogs, swamps, beaver dams and rivers. The circle also includes the hardwood forests, boreal forests, and alpine areas of the Presidential Range. Unique to this area is the old growth forest near Gibbs Brook. Also within the circle are portions of the Pemigewasset and Presidential Range-Dry River Wilderness areas. The CBC circle contains many species of unique birds.
CBC participants will have the opportunity to start the day at the AMC Highland Center with a warm and hearty breakfast, spend the day in the field with friends and fellow birders, and enjoy a post-event reception, dinner and a night’s stay. CBC participants can choose to take advantage of any or all of those options.
Apart from its attraction as a social and competitive event, CBC produces valuable scientific data. Now in is 107th year the CBC is larger than ever, expanding its geographical range and accumulating information about winter distributions of various birds. It is vital in monitoring the status of resident and migratory birds populations across the Western Hemisphere. The data have become a crucial part of the U.S. government’s natural history monitoring database. Data submitted, for example, has helped ornithologists understand the magnitude of the effects of the West Nile Virus on regional bird populations. (Count results from past years are available at www.audubon.org/bird/cbc.)
National Audubon’s CBC director Geoff LeBaron states, “Backed with over a century of participation and collected data…the CBC has evolved into a powerful and important tool, one probably inconceivable to any of the 27 participants on the first Christmas Bird Count. With continual growing environmental pressures, it seems likely that today’s participants cannot possibly fathom the value of their efforts in the next century.”
For more information, or to make reservations, please call the AMC Reservations Line at 603-466-2727 (Mon-Sat, 9 am to 5 pm). The Highland Center will offer discounted rates on both private room and shared bunk room lodging for all bird count participants. Shared bunk rooms are $52/person/night; beds in Shapleigh Bunk House are $51/person/night; private room accommodations are $82/person/night; and child rates are $38/child/night.
People of all levels can participate. Last year we were joined by members of the NH Audubon, The Forest Service, AMC staff and naturalists and two VFTTers.
Contact if you have any questions.
Thanks
Craig
Here is the AMC press release;
AMC To Host New Audubon Christmas Bird Count Dec. 16, 2006
All Birders and Nature Enthusiasts are invited to take part.
Bretton Woods NH - The Appalachian Mountain Club calls upon all outdoors enthusiasts throughout the region to participate in the National Audubon Society’s 107-year-old winter tradition, the Annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC), to be held on Saturday, Dec. 16at the AMC’s Highland Center at Crawford Notch.
The CBC provides a way to get out and have fun birding and contribute important information that will affect bird and nature conservation. The event is open to birders of all skill levels. Attendees will take part in what is sure to become a holiday tradition.
Participants can make a weekend of it and enjoy the hospitality, activities, and learning opportunities provided at the Highland Center. AMC has created a special lodging-and-events package for event participants.
The CBC began over a century ago when 27 conservationists in 25 localities, led by scientist and writer Frank Chapman, changed the course of ornithological history. On Christmas Day 1890, the small group posed an alternative to the “side hunt,” a Christmas Day activity in which teams competed to see who could shoot the most birds and small mammals. Instead Chapman proposed to identify, count and, record all the birds they saw, founding what is now considered to be the world’s most significant citizens-based conservation effort and a more than century old institution. Now more than 2,000 individual counts will occur throughout the Americas from Dec.14, 2006 to Jan. 5, 2007.
With its 130-year history of promoting the protection, enjoyment, and wise use of the mountains, rivers, and trails of the Appalachian region and its longstanding dedication to conservation, AMC is pleased to host this Christmas Bird Count at the Highland Center at Crawford Notch for a second year. The CBC circle is 15 miles in diameter, centered on the AMC Highland Center in Crawford Notch. Within the circle are the water habitats of Saco and Ammonoosuc lakes as well as bogs, swamps, beaver dams and rivers. The circle also includes the hardwood forests, boreal forests, and alpine areas of the Presidential Range. Unique to this area is the old growth forest near Gibbs Brook. Also within the circle are portions of the Pemigewasset and Presidential Range-Dry River Wilderness areas. The CBC circle contains many species of unique birds.
CBC participants will have the opportunity to start the day at the AMC Highland Center with a warm and hearty breakfast, spend the day in the field with friends and fellow birders, and enjoy a post-event reception, dinner and a night’s stay. CBC participants can choose to take advantage of any or all of those options.
Apart from its attraction as a social and competitive event, CBC produces valuable scientific data. Now in is 107th year the CBC is larger than ever, expanding its geographical range and accumulating information about winter distributions of various birds. It is vital in monitoring the status of resident and migratory birds populations across the Western Hemisphere. The data have become a crucial part of the U.S. government’s natural history monitoring database. Data submitted, for example, has helped ornithologists understand the magnitude of the effects of the West Nile Virus on regional bird populations. (Count results from past years are available at www.audubon.org/bird/cbc.)
National Audubon’s CBC director Geoff LeBaron states, “Backed with over a century of participation and collected data…the CBC has evolved into a powerful and important tool, one probably inconceivable to any of the 27 participants on the first Christmas Bird Count. With continual growing environmental pressures, it seems likely that today’s participants cannot possibly fathom the value of their efforts in the next century.”
For more information, or to make reservations, please call the AMC Reservations Line at 603-466-2727 (Mon-Sat, 9 am to 5 pm). The Highland Center will offer discounted rates on both private room and shared bunk room lodging for all bird count participants. Shared bunk rooms are $52/person/night; beds in Shapleigh Bunk House are $51/person/night; private room accommodations are $82/person/night; and child rates are $38/child/night.
