The Friends of the Fossil Beds will be sponsoring our 8^th Annual Great Backyard Bird Count on Saturday February 15^th, 2020 starting at 9 AM. We are holding this event in conjunction with the 23^rd Annual International Great Backyard Bird Count which will be held for four days from Friday, February 14^th – Monday February17th, 2020.

This international event is a citizen science effort to capture a worldwide count of bird populations. It began in 1998 and is a joint partnership between the National Audubon Society and the Cornall Lab of Ornithology. This yearly count helps us to learn more about how bird populations are doing around the world, how to protect them and keep track of endangered species. The statistics from the count help scientists all over the world implement conservation measures wherever necessary.  The count of 2019 yielded the largest numbers since the first count. 6,715 species were counted by 224,781 participants in over 110 countries. 205,779 checklists were submitted. Over 30,000,000 individual birds were counted. If you wish to learn more about the 2019 statistics and what important information was compiled, go to birdcount.org.

The sign-in site for our event on the 15^th will be in the yurt at the Florissant Fossil Beds NM starting at 9 AM. We will have 3 separate starting times for 3 different bird walks of one hour each to count and record the birds seen. There will be walks starting at 9 AM, 10 AM and 11 AM. Everyone participating will learn how to record and send in the count data. From 1 PM to 3 PM there will be activities for children and their families including a bird scavenger hunt and making bird feeders.

Bring your family and friends to have a  great time learning about birds.  If you like to help with this event, please contact Sally McCracken at 719-510-5518 or e-mail her at sammckind@aol.com. We encourage all of our members to join us and/or help with every event. We are always looking for volunteers for our events,

See you on February 15^th!!!!