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Bird Watchers Flock For Annual Count

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By COURTNEY CAIRNS PASTOR

cpastor@tampatrib.com

Published: January 5, 2009

TAMPA - Water fowl are easy to count. They just float in place. But flocks require strategy.

"We try to take a section and count that and figure out how many fit in a flock," said Carolyn McKinney, president of the Tampa Audubon Society. "That's the best we can do."

Equipped with binoculars and identification guides, McKinney and other volunteers hit the Upper Tampa Bay Trail off Waters Avenue on Saturday. They weren't bird-watching; they were spotting, identifying and logging every bird they encountered throughout the day.

The efforts are part of Audubon's 109th-annual Christmas Bird Count, which uses "citizen scientists" nationwide to keep track of the numbers and types of birds. The count started Dec.14 and ends today. Audubon chapters select a day in that time frame to participate.

Regions are split into circles 15 miles wide. Volunteers head out on trails, roads and in boats from dawn until dusk, and sometimes later if they are looking for birds roosting at night, McKinney said. The Tampa group meets afterward to swap stories, and a representative types in the data and submits it to Audubon.

Tampa has participated for 37 years and usually finds about 145 species of birds. Hillsborough County includes the Alafia Banks circle, in the southern part of the county, which went out in December and logged 151 species. The West Pasco Audubon Society canvassed its area Friday.

It's a lot of fun, said McKinney, who went out on a boat for the Alafia count. Anyone can participate by spotting, but the counting and identification are left up to more experienced bird-watchers.

The results can reveal declining bird populations or environmental threats and spur efforts to develop and protect habitats, McKinney said.

"It's really vital for conservation," she said.

Reporter Courtney Cairns Pastor can be reached at (813) 865-1503. Keyword: Bird Count, for results from last year's Christmas Bird Count. This year's counts will be added as they become available.

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