December 7, 1:00 to 3:00 pm – Introduction to the Christmas Bird Count

This is a class and outing for families and kids of all ages. We will meet at the Children’s Village in the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens and introduce you to some of the local winter birds. Then we will take a short hike in the park to see what birds we can find and record their numbers.
We will talk about the upcoming official Cheyenne Christmas Bird Count planned for December 14th.

December 9, 4:00 to 5:00 pm – Bird Counts and Birds Count!
Join us at the Laramie County Library in the Early Literacy Center on the 2nd floor: for kids from the 2nd through 6th grades.
Meet a volunteer from the Cheyenne High Plains Audubon Society who will tell us how and why we count birds. Discover how to find and identify birds then test your skills at spotting feathered friends (or their look-alikes) and learn about the library’s birding backpack program and the upcoming Christmas Bird Count.

December 14 – Cheyenne Christmas Bird Count

(Meet at the downtown Post Office at 8 a.m., 2120 Capitol Ave.)  Or be a field observer on your own.

If you are interested in participating, contact Grant Frost, 307-343-2024, so that he has a list of those expected, so he can let you know if the plans change for any reason such as stormy weather.
Grant will have a list of regular spots within our count circle and will encourage people to spread out to specific areas so that we can have good coverage of all hot spots first thing in the morning to assure a good count on the number of each species in the Cheyenne area, i.e. the number of geese before they all start flying around. Novice birders will be paired with experienced counters.  – Tally sheets and more  details about the area and process in the December issue of FLYER. 

December 14 – CBC Tally Party, 6:00 p.m., Perkins on Dell Range Blvd.
For the tally party have ready the numbers of each species you observe and the amount of time and distance you walk and the amount of time and distance you drive. Keep track of where and when you saw species of note so we can tell if you counted the same bird or flock as someone else. Feeder watchers can bring their counts too.  Please contact Mark Gorges at 307-287-4953 if you plan to attend the Tally Party so that we can arrange for enough room.

After the tally party contact Grant with any species that you see three days before or three days after December 14 that were not listed at the tally party. They are entered in the CBC data as “Week of the Count” species.

December 27, 8:00 a.m. – Country Club Bird Survey
Contact Chuck Seniawski to be on his email notice list: 307-638-6519 or chuckski@aol.com. The count will start in the Country Club’s clubhouse’s main parking lot. These counts are free and open to everyone, but please let Chuck know you are coming.

January 1 – Guernsey/Ft. Laramie Christmas Bird Count
If you are going to join the count, please let Jane Dorn know at 307-640-4002. Also call her if the weather turns nasty; she will set an alternate date. Bring water, lunch, warm clothes, binoculars, and a scope if you have one, and whatever you need for a day watching birds at Guernsey State Park, Ft. Laramie National Historic Site, the Oregon Trail Ruts and Hartville.