Yikes!  Where has the time gone!?  I’m late! 

The 119th Christmas Bird Count (CBC) begins today (Fri 14 Dec 2018) and runs through Saturday 5 Jan 2019.  As I write this post some Christmas Bird Counts are already underway.

Counting birds at Christmastime is an annual international tradition, coordinated in the U.S. by the National Audubon Society. Each “Count” is a 15-mile diameter circle manned by volunteers who count the birds they see in a single 24-hour period. Each circle has a Compiler who makes sure there’s no birding overlap.

In the Pittsburgh area there are 14+ circles shown in the map and table below.  Some are as early as tomorrow, Sat Dec 15.

It’s easy to participate.  Volunteer to count at your own feeders or out in the field.  But first, be sure to call or email the compiler to confirm your assignment. 

This list of Pittsburgh area counts is a subset of Pennsylvania’s CBCs.  Please see the PSO Nov 2018 newsletter for the real thing.

Count Name	County (general area)	Date	Coordinator	Contact Info
Beaver	Beaver	Sat Dec 15	Rick Mason	richarddmason@gmail.com 724-847-0909
Buffalo Creek	Washington	Sun Dec 16	Larry Helgerman	bobolink1989@gmail.com 412-508-0321
Buffalo Creek Valley	Butler, Armstrong	Sat Dec 15	George Reese	g.reese@gaiconsultants.com, 724-353-9649
Bushy Run	Westmoreland	Sun Dec 30	Dick Byers	otusasio@lhtot.com 724-593-3543
Butler	Butler, Lawrence, Mercer	Sat Dec 15	Glenn Koppel & Mary Alice Koeneke	macatilly@gmail.com 703-203-3362
Clarksville	Greene	Sat Dec 22	Terry Dayton	tdayton@windstream.net 724-998-7099
Imperial	Allegheny, Washington	Sun Dec 23	Bob Mulvihill	robert.mulvihill@gmail.com
Indiana	Indiana	Wed Dec 26	Roger & Marg Higbee	724-354-3493 412-309-3538 bcoriole@windstream.net rvhigbee@windstream.net
Ohiopyle	Fayette, Somerset	Sat Jan 5	Matt Juskowich	412-999-0394 jusko88@yahoo.com
Pittsburgh	Allegheny	Sat Dec 29	Brian Shema, ASWP	bshema@aswp.org ASWP Christmas Bird Count
Pittsburgh South Hills	Allegheny	Sat Dec 15	Nancy Page	412-221-4795
Rector	Westmoreland	Sun Dec 23	Luke DeGroot	degrootel@carnegiemnh.org 724-593-7521
Ryerson	Greene	Sat Dec 29	Marjorie Howard	birdwatcher108@comcast.net 724-852-3155
South Butler	Butler	Sun Dec 16	Chris Kubiak	ckubiak@aswp.org 412-963-6100
Washington	Washington	Sat Dec 15	Thomas Contreras	tcontreras@washjeff.edu 724-223-6118

I’ll be counting in the Pittsburgh circle on Sat. 29 Dec 2018.  Coordinated by Brian Shema at AWSP, the Pittsburgh CBC has so many participants that it’s divided into sections with compilers for each one.

Check the CBC map on the National Audubon website to find a circle near you.

Now’s the time to count.

(photo by Kate St. John, screenshot of CBC map from National Audubon)