Annual Christmas Bird Count in Lake Tahoe Sunday

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is widely regarded as the largest and oldest citizen science project in the world. Each year, from December 14 through January 5, tens of thousands of volunteers across the county head out into the winter to count birds for a day. This tradition goes back to 1900, and in the intervening years, these birders have built a database on bird populations that is unmatched by any other wildlife census.

Tahoe Institute of Natural Science Co-founder Will Richardson has coordinated the South Lake Tahoe CBC since 2004 and people are invited to join in on the local count on Sunday, December 16, 2018 and so far the weather looks great with chance of rain/snow that night.

They will meet at Alpina Coffee Cafe, 822 Emerald Bay Rd., at 8:00 a.m. and head over to Cove East where everyone will be split up into smaller grops that will head off to other spots.

A pizza party complementary of TINS will conclude the day.

What to expect: Gather in the morning for a brief organizational meeting, and then everyone is sent out to their designated areas of the circle (in SLT's case, a 7.5 mile radius circle centered on the mouth of the Upper Truckee River to count birds and have fun. At the end of the day, the group reconvenes to tally up the totals and swap the day's highlights. It's a fun and social day, and a great excuse to get out and do some birding in the winter. People who don't want to go outside get involved too, by keeping track of the birds at their feeders.

Please contact Sarah Hockensmith with any questions at sarah@tinsweb.org.

To register for the 2018/2019 Christmas Bird Count click HERE.