Barred Owl in Fish Creek Park, Calgary, December 7, 2014. Photo by Tony LePrieur

The 115th annual Christmas Bird Count season runs from December 14, 2014 to January 5, 2015. There are many one-day counts taking place in the Calgary region. New participants are always welcome, and in many cases there are opportunities to contribute by watching birds at your feeder as well as by going out in the field. If you are interested in taking part, contact the count compiler.

There are over 2,600 Christmas Bird counts taking place this season. You shouldn’t have much trouble finding one near you on a date that you are available.

Just a few of the 2,600+ circles where counts are taking place this year. Calgary is near the centre of this screen shot, Edmonton near the top.

Here are details of a few of the nearby counts. You can find information on all of the Canadian counts on the Bird Studies Canada site, and more information on the Audubon site. If anyone can help fill in the blanks below or has updated information, please let us know at birdscalgary at gmail.com.