• Our Goal is to celebrate this century old CBC tradition of a full day birding adventure and a great dinner celebration at the end of the day. We have fun, and desire quality birding participation which result in good citizen science. That takes  advanced planning and a team effort...skin in the game!  Everyone Counts! We had 150 species last year on a very cold and wet day.  Can we beat that?  The 2006 teams now have a benchmark! 

• Celebration & Tabulation Dinner Follows the Count!

Andrews Hall, Sonoma Comm. Center, 276 East Napa St    

What to Bring is based on your birthday - 4 Seasons! 
Winter - main dish  (we have a kitchen for warming)
Spring - dessert
Summer - appetizers
Fall - Salad or side dish
We supply a variety of drinks.  You can also bring wine or what you like!
 note: If anyone is interested in helping with setup they can contact  us. 939-8007This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enab

• Our Birding Leaders - Expert Birding Leaders are critical to our success. They are volunteering and in charge of birding a specific area. Lots of advanced scouting and planning makes this day work. Please do your part to be prepared early... Help with land access, show up on time, be a serious listener, spotter, recorder or counter. Review the bird list and brush up on your skills. Teams strategically move through an assigned area to achieve the very best results possible in a very few hours of daylight. We also encourage birders to ID owls pre-dawn and at dusk beginning right after midnight on 12/29. Teams  are often on private property that requires special advanced permission and respectfulness. 

• Sonomabirding.org - We help leaders creates approx. 36 balanced birding teams in the 15 mile diameter circle. We supply the official maps and materials to team leaders. The final tabulation is presented at the end of the dinner celebration. We do the best we can to place people where they can be most helpful to the overall effort.

• A Team =  3-5 people. Small balanced teams discoverer birds! Non birders drive and measure distances traveled, record the birds, spot, listen and of course support our experienced birders.

• Cost - Team leaders will collect the $5.00 participation fee when you arrive in the morning which is sent to National Audubon. Sign up on your official team list the morning of the event. A check can be written to Tom Rusert - note on check - 'SV-CBC Compiler'... if necessary. 

• Weather - We are an "all weather" bird count just like the birds! Fair weather birders will enjoy helping with the dinner celebration at the end of the day.  The rest of us go out and bird the conditions. 

• We officially have 24 hours to find and record our birds.
Dawn - Friday, 12/29 is  6:23 am and sunrise at 7:25am.  Sunset will be at 4:59pm and dark at 6:02pm.  Owling is over this 24 hour period. There is a high tide of 6.4 ft. at 6:35am, a low tide of 0.2 ft.  at 1:34pm and 2nd high tide of 4.0 ft. at 8:18pm.

• Count Week (CW) - Begins 12/26 and allows for counting 3 days before and after 12/29.  We record this  separately listing only birds not seen on 12/29.

• When do we see the most birds - Most bird species are best seen and heard very early in the morning and late in the afternoon. That is why we get up and out at the crack of dawn to identify lots of bird species.  Check out last years results for your Area on the home page!

• What to Bring:  Comfortable walking shoes, quiet clothing, Binoculars, bird guide, water, walkie talkies if you have them snack for lunch and an adventurous attitude. (phones don't work in many remote areas).

• Bone up so your helpful to your team!
 We may hike/walk/canoe or bike through lots of unique terrains - comfort & warmth is critical -good shoes or boots, layers, sun/rain gear & comfort matters.   We drive and measure distances to get to destinations.
1. Be familiar with your bird guides, for quick ID’s   2.  practice sighting birds with your optics
3. listening is critical  4. record bird species and note quanity. 5. Study the area your assigned.      

• Please Note: The CBC bird census is great fun but its not meant to be a “casual walk in the park” or to be an annual birding class. National Audubon needs quality citizen science data that we all can appreciate. It’s a great adventure for the mind and spirit and a team effort!