Please join our 3rd Annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC) on the Merced Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve on Friday, January 4 (7am-3pm). As part of the nation’s longest-running community science bird project (started in the year 1899!), the Audubon Society will be conducting bird counts between December 14, 2018 through January 5, 2019. Thousands of volunteers across the U.S., Canada, and many other countries in the western Hemisphere will be heading outside and tallying every bird that they see or hear. On the Merced Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve, John Harris, Dale Swanberg, and Sal Salerno of the Stanislaus Audubon Society will be leading the CBC. All interested birders—experienced to beginners—are welcome! Please dress warmly and bring a lunch, water, binoculars, and a camera. We will meet at the corner of Ranchers Road and Ansel Adams Road on the UC Merced campus at 7am sharp. If you are interested in participating, please contact Monique Kolster (mkolster@ucmerced.edu). Come help us add to our local record of CBC bird sightings and be a part of a 119-year old national tradition!
Figure 1. Burrowing owl on the Merced Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve. Photo by Vern Johnson, member of the Yosemite Area Audubon Society.
