Annual Audubon bird count tallies 116 species at Fort Hood | Article

Charlie Plimpton, an avian biologist with the Fort Hood Adaptive and Integrative Management program, points to a songbird as volunteers and avian experts scan the skies during the

post's 7th annual Christmas Bird Count outreach event at Fort Hood, Texas, Dec. 13. (Photo Credit: Christine Luciano, Fort Hood DPW Environmental ) VIEW ORIGINAL FORT HOOD, Texas -

Annually around mid-December, the Fort Hood Adaptive and Integrative Management program, along with volunteers, biologists, students from Texas A&M University Central Texas and

Wild Birds Unlimited-Temple, come together to support the Audubon Christmas Bird Count and comb the training areas to count as many birds as possible in a single day. Fort Hood’s

7th annual CBC focused on a community outreach event on Dec. 13, followed by an official event Dec. 14. “Locally, we will be able to use the data collected to gain insights to

our avian population trends and how they change from year to year, and eventually over the course of many years on Fort Hood,” Charlie Plimpton, avian biologist, AIM program,

said. “The CBC is also a great way to engage the public and encourage people to learn more about birding and the abundance of wildlife that is available for them to enjoy.”

Cassie Bray and her seven-year-old daughter, Briley, were excited about the second opportunity to participate in a citizen science initiative after helping Fort Hood biologists

with a monarch tagging event in the fall. Cassie Bray holds her seven-year-old daughter, Briley, as she uses a spotting scope held by Chelsea Plimpton, a pollinator biologist,

during the 7th annual Christmas Bird Count outreach event at Fort Hood, Texas, Dec. 13. (Photo Credit: Christine Luciano, Fort Hood DPW Environmental) VIEW ORIGINAL “It was

really exciting to try something different and I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was nice to get out and get into nature,” she said. “It’s a great opportunity to get life

skills and do our part to see what we can do to help to grow our experiences and knowledge in birds and nature.” Each count aims to identify and record every individual bird

encountered within a defined 15-mile circle, and count birds that can be seen or heard. “I thought from beginning, ‘Wow, they barely see them. How can they see what they

are?’ But it helped me know how we can grow in bird identification and now recognize it’s also about our ears and listening,” Bray said. “So that’s really exciting. My

take away is get on the bird apps and for my daughter and I to start learning and growing in our understanding of birds.” During the official event, Fort Hood biologists and