Aussie Backyard Bird Count 2015
Posted on 7 October, 2015 by Tanya Loos
Celebrate National Bird Week 2015 by taking part in the biggest citizen science project to hit Aussie shores! From 19-25 October, thousands of people from across the country are heading out into their backyards, local parks, or favourite outdoor spaces to take part in the second annual AUSSIE BACKYARD BIRD COUNT! This is an initiative of BirdLife Australia; Connecting Country is an affiliate group of this fantastic organisation. We have a data-sharing agreement with BirdLife Australia – which means that the Aussie Backyard Bird Count helps us keep track of how woodland birds are faring in the Mount Alexander region.
To get involved in the Aussie Backyard Bird Count, all you need is 20 minutes, your outdoor space of choice, and some keen eyesight (or binoculars). It doesn’t matter if you’re a novice or an expert. Simply record the birds you know and look up those you don’t on BirdLife’s new Aussie Bird Count app or our through their website (www.aussiebirdcount.org.au). You’ll instantly see live statistics and information on how many people are taking part near you and the number of birds and species counted across your neighbourhood and the whole of Australia!
Not only will you get to know your feathered neighbours, but you’ll be contributing to a vital pool of information from across the nation that will help us see how Australian birds are faring. Last year volunteers counted 800,000 birds from across Australia, this year Birdlife Australia hopes to make it to at least one million. Get your friends and family together, head into the great outdoors and start counting!
For more information head to www.aussiebirdcount.org.au or check out the ABBC Poster.
Also, don’t forget that there are some great guest speakers in the Mount Alexander Shire area over the coming weeks, with Andrew Skeoch speaking at the Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club this Friday (9 Oct) and Emmi Scherlies talking about Powerful Owls at the Newstead Community Centre next Thursday (15 Oct). See our earlier blog for further details on these two events (click here). We’ll also have some information soon about our guest speaker at our upcoming AGM on 27 October.
where, oh where do we record our results??
Hi Kay! The Backyard Bird Count finished yesterday. The place for recording results was online at the website http://www.aussiebirdcount.org.au or there was an app to downland as well. There will be another count next year. But you haven’t missed out! We are always interested in bird sightings and bird surveys – our bird monitoring page on the website has plenty of info on submitting data to Connecting Country. See here. I will also add you to the Connecting Country bird email list if you like!