Counting Birds Is Not Only Fun, It's Good For Bella Vista
The Bluebird Shed has coordinated two backyard bird counts recently, and I would like to do more in the near future.
But this begs the question about why should we count our backyard birds at all?
It turns out that, even after all of our modern technology, birds are still the proverbial canary in the coal mine with respect to our environment. Sure there are other animals out there that are more sensitive to environmental degradation such as many frogs and salamanders, but birds as a whole are still the backbone of environmental monitoring.
This is especially true when we collaborate and count our birds over large areas, such as an entire community. When we do this over time, we can see how we as humans affect our wildlife, and it allows us to make better decisions for our communities to the mutual benefit of wildlife and ourselves.
Given the importance wildlife monitoring is to our own livelihoods, it is ironic that very few community-wide bird counts exist. We can change that by making Bella Vista a model community of environmental awareness, and it can start by counting the birds in our own backyards.
Therefore, I will be organizing regular Bella Vista Backyard Bird Counts and will regularly post the results on this site. This will allow everyone to see the seasonal ebb and flow of birds in our area as well as watch the trends over time. In conjunction with the backyard counts, I will be conducting a bird census myself of the Bella Vista area. I have 32 census points mapped out throughout Bella Vista and will do a 5-minute point count of each of those locations during every backyard bird count that takes place. The two counts combined will give us an excellent view of the birds of Bella Vista as a whole.
So I hope you will join me when the opportunity arises to count the birds in your back yard. If you would like to participate or have any questions, you can call me at the store or send me an email at butch@thebluebirdshed.com .
Thank you and enjoy!
Butch
