This year’s Christmas Bird Count for Kids was a blast! Nine kids participated in the count and three of their younger siblings participated in the Budding Birders program.

Children ages 8 and up worked on small teams and went through binocular boot camp, which was led by a bird mentor. Director Jim Knickelbine and local bird expert Chuck Sontag were the mentors. During binocular boot camp, the kids learned where to look for birds, how to identify them and how to use binoculars. Finally, they headed outdoors for a hike to count the birds they see. They document species and number of birds seen. The weather conditions were less than optimal, but the kids were troopers! They counted 11 different species and 200 birds. The highlight for both teams was a bald eagle sighting! 

This was a favorite “messy” activity for the Budding Birders. They smeared peanut butter on the wreath and then sprinkled it seed.

While the older kids were counting, their younger siblings did the Budding Birders program. The Budding Birders and I read a story about birds, then headed outside on a short walk to count them. Next we headed indoors and made all different kinds of feeders for the birds. We got a little messy, but had a lot of fun. After, we took our creations outside and decorated the bird feeding station. It was a fun and festive! 

The morning wrapped up with a snack, hot cider and the older kids were presented with their own bird log. The Budding Birders made a fruit ornament to hang at home for the birds. Thank you to our sponsors SeedNBeans and Darlene Waterstreet!

This is an annual program we offer, typically during the last few weeks of December. Watch our events calendar and newsletter for the date of the 2015 kids count. 

More photos from the CBC for Kids can be found on the Woodland Dunes Facebook page.