If you spot small groups of people with binoculars looking at your house Saturday, don't be alarmed.
They're likely involved with the annual Christmas Bird Count for the Wye Marsh/north Simcoe zone.
The Midland-Penetanguishene Field Naturalists have been volunteering for the yearly count for almost 60 years. Starting in 1900, this is the 124th year of the count, which is held in more than 2,000 locations in the Western Hemisphere.
The count provides a snapshot of bird diversity, population and distribution, the results of which can be used by scientists.
"Last year, we had the highest bird total ever. It was around 4,700 total birds," said David Schandlen, of Wyebridge, who has been the coordinator of the Wye Marsh zone count for almost 30 years.
Last year, he had about 40 volunteers counting with about the same expected for this weekend's count.
"Of that, you will see 700 chickadees. But usually every year someone will see one snowy owl or a hawk that hasn't been counted for maybe four or fives years," he said.
The study area has Wye Marsh at the centre and a circle is drawn in a 15-mile or 24-kilometre radius around the marsh. That takes in Midland, Penetanguishene, Port McNicoll, Victoria Harbour, Tiny Marsh and the Tiny Township up to the 15th Concession. That covers a large shoreline and land mass.
How it works is teams of two to four people take a 1/17th slice of the map pie and drive around counting birds along the shoreline, around the roadways and at in people's front yard bird feeders.
Schandlen encourages people to fill their feeders before the count so as to attract birds.
"The thing that really determines the count on the day is the weather. If it's a stormy day, you don't see what you would on a nice day. It hasn't been cold and the shorelines are still open. This year will be good for that reason."
The count is a snapshot of bird populations on a single day, said Schandlen, noting seeing certain species can be "hit and miss."
Chickadees, nuthatches, starlings, blue jays and mourning doves make up a large part of the count in town. On the waterfront, it's ducks, gulls and mergansers. Trumpeter swans are seen at Wye Marsh and often in Victoria Harbour and sometimes at Tiny Marsh, said Schandlen.
"Everyone gets excited when they hear about a bird that hasn't been around for a few years. If anybody sees something unusual, everybody will go there the next day to try to see that one bird."
Once the counts get tallied, they get sent to Long Point where the data is summarized. After that, people can go online at Birds Canada and see what birds were found anywhere that a count occurred.
The Christmas Bird Count will also be held in Barrie and Orillia Saturday through the Brereton Field Naturalists and the Orillia Naturalists' Club, respectively.
Naturalist clubs have until the first week of January to complete the count. The count in Coldwater will be on Dec. 23 while Collingwood's is Dec. 27.
