In all the recent discussion of Christmas Bird Counts there has been a
tension between pumping up the numbers of a particular count and making sure
participants have a good experience.
Intense birders want to go all out, all day, and beat the bushes to find the
maximum number of species. A compiler who scouts ahead, recruits talented
birders, and assigns people to "go to road X and find species Y" can pump up
the numbers. Hats off to these organizers. This approach has the flavor of
a contest.
At the same time, people new to birding are recruited to come out for a fun
day. They may not know a lot of species, or where to find them on the tally
sheet. They want to see some birds, have fun, and stay warm and dry. This
has the flavor of a fun outing.
This sets up a potential conflict. It's a human situation, and it requires
some humanity to work out the tensions. The intense people need to be
willing to slow down enough to nurture the beginners and those who are not
as intense. If there are to be pre-count training sessions, the intense
folks will need to be willing to do some teaching. However, there will
still be beginners on the next count you attend.
After all, the whole idea of having Christmas Bird Counts was to celebrate
birds as opposed to shooting them.
I have been a CBC enthusiast for years. I have striven to do all the CBC's
in Oregon at least once. I find that there is a wide variety of flavors of
CBC's. Some are large metropolitan efforts with separate sector leaders and
teams. Others are a dozen local folks who meet for breakfast, divvy up the
circle with the talent at hand, and check back at lunch time to see what
still needs to be covered. Some circles are laced with city streets;
others have whole square miles with no access.
I just did my 161st CBC. When I visit a CBC I take the team assignment I'm
given and ride along with my companions. I aim to fit in and help. I may
help folks find an elusive species, or I may just be sociable and go with
the local flow. Big numbers don't matter. Kindness does.
There aren't enough intense, talented birders to staff every count and pump
up the numbers to reach the maximum potential of every count circle. It
will never happen. With some humanity, we can bring new people along to
know more birds and care more about them. And have a good time doing it.
Good birding, everyone,
Paul Sullivan
