. 113 fime for 
     
     the bird counis 
     
    
   
   
    
     BY GARY SCHNEIDER 
     
    
   
   
    
     It seems hard to believe that time flies so 
     
     quickly, but it's already time to start gearing up 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     AH: , 
     
     °' -" °" "' " for the annual Christmas Bird Counts. Every year 
     
    
   
   
    
      there is more and more interest in these events, 
     
    
   
   
    
     which manage to combine a love of birds with an en- 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     in Canada. Some avid birders spend a better part of 
     
    
   
   
    
       joyment of the outdoors (even in some pretty amazing 
     
     snowstorms) and social interaction. 
     
    

    
     People have become more and more interested in 
     
     taking part in the counts, which have a long history 
     
     on the Island. The Charlottetown count started in 
     
     1902, only two years after the first counts took place 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     the day on foot, in cars, and on skis and snowshoes 
     
    

    
     and cover many miles in pursuit of unusual species. 
     
    

    
     Others spend an hour or two walking their favourite 
     
    

    
     part of the count area, or report sightings at their 
     
     feeders. All are essential to the bird counts. 
     
    

    
     Each count area is 24 km (15 miles) in diameter, and all parts of the 
     
     area get at least cursory coverage. If possible, novice birders are teamed 
     
     1p with more experienced ones, which winds up being beneficial for every- 
     
     one. In 1987, the National Park count yielded 44 species, 38 species turned 
     
     up in the Hillsborough count, and 44 in the Montague area. 
     
    

    
     The Christmas Bird Counts are the most prestigious birding events in 
     
     North America. While the first Charlottetown count was in 1902, they 
     
     stopped sometime after that but were reincarnated in 1971 as the Hillsborough 
     
     and National Park counts in 1971. These two counts are part of the over 180 
     
     official count areas in canada and the 1,500 count areas in North America 
     
     which comprise the Christmas Bird counts. The Montague count is an unof- 
     
     ficial count (meaning the results are not entered in the annual North 
     
     American report). It is free to all participants, while there is a small 
     
     charge for the Hillsborough and National Park counts. 
     
    

    
     Besides being fun, the results of the counts are charted, and the 
     
     most recent use is a book by Terry Root called Atlas of Wintering North 
     
     American Birds, which is an analysis of Christmas Bird Count data. The 
     
     Atlas doesn't show what birds look like - it tells where to find them in 
     
     the winter months. It is available from the University of Chicago Press, 
     
     but only includes southern Canada and from the two sample maps I've seen, 
     
     P.E.I. is not in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Oh well. 
     
    

    
     American Birds, the yearly report of the Christmas Bird Counts in North 
     
     America (including P.E.I.) is purchased every year by the Natural History 
     
     Society and is available at the U.P.E.I. library. This year is the 89th 
     
     year of counting in North America, and over 42,000 people are expected to 
     
     take part. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Dates and coordinators for the Island counts are as follows: 
     
    
   
   
    
         
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     National Park: Dec. 18. Contact Dan McAskill, 569-4351. 
     
     . Hillsborough: Dec. 27. Contact Dan McAskill, 569-4351. 
     
     Montague: Dec. 31. Contact Gary Schneider, 838-2678.