A map of Sherburne showing the count area for the Annual Christmas Bird Count on December 16. The count area is a circle with the center being the traffic light in Sherburne, and a radius of 7.5 miles. (Submitted photo)

CHENANGO COUNTY — The Chenango Bird Club will be meeting on Wednesday, December 13 at 6:30 p.m. at the Rogers Environmental Education Center in Sherburne. The meeting will finalize plans for the 2023 Sherburne Christmas Bird Count to be held  on Saturday, December 16. Newcomers are welcome. Club Secretary, Mike DeWispelaere, will also share some of his favorite wildlife photos from 2023. 

This is the 124th year of the Audubon Christmas Bird Count. You can learn more about the  Christmas  Bird Count here:  www.audubon.org/conservation/join-christmas-bird-count.

The Chenango Bird Club has participated since the late 1970s. The count area is a circle with the center being the traffic light in Sherburne and a radius of 7.5 miles as the crow (or blue jay or chickadee) flies. Each team of birders takes a pie shaped segment of that circle and counts the bird species and individuals that they see or hear that day. 

We ask that people who live in the count area to make sure their feeders are filled if they are visible from the road, and be aware that we may be stopping in front of your house and looking toward your feeders with binoculars. If you are driving the roads in the area on December 16 please be patient with us since we may be driving slowly and stopping frequently. 

New participants are welcome to join one of the count teams.  People may also participate if they live in the count circle and feed the birds by counting the birds at their feeders.  Attend our meeting on December 13 to learn more, or contact our circle compiler, Mike DeWispelaere at dewispmj@frontiernet.net.

Meetings are normally held  the second Wednesday of the months of April through December  at 6:30 p.m. at the Rogers Environmental Education Center in Sherburne (2721 NY-80), inside the Visitor's Center. Meetings start with a brief business meeting and are followed by a bird walk or various presentations of interest to both birders and general nature enthusiasts.

For more information contact John Knapp at 607-372-1242 or jknapp56@yahoo.com.

-Information provided by the Chenango Bird Club