The Friday Flyer • February 17, 2017

CANYON LAKE’S NEWSPAPER • FEBRUARY 17, 2017
Temescal Titans score Sunbelt League basketball title Pg. A3
Canyon Lake Art As- sociation painting for scholars Pg. A8
Residents invited to play bingo at Senior
Center
Pg. A9
This turkey vulture was pho- tographed fLying high above Diamond Point Park.
Great Backyard Bird Count not just for the birds
BY DONNA RITCHIE
EDITOR, THE FRIDAY FLYER
Beginning on Christmas Day 1900, Ornithologist Frank M. Chapman, an early officer in the then-nascent Audu- bon Society, proposed a new holiday tradition — a “Christmas Bird Census” that would count birds during the holidays rather
than hunt them. So began
the Christmas Bird Count.
Each year from December 14
through January 5 tens of thou-
sands of volunteers throughout the Americas brave snow, wind, or rain, and take part in the effort of counting birds. The Audubon Society and other organi- zations use data collected in this long- running wildlife census to assess the health of bird populations, and to help guide conservation action.
The Lake Elsinore bird count ceased in 1942. Julie Szabo restart- ed the count with a trial count in 2009 and has kept it going since then. On December 31, 2016, 19 observers fanned out over the Lake Elsinore area, Canyon Lake and part of Menifee to conduct the annual Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count. Linda and Lee Freeman, 28-year residents of Canyon Lake, covered the count in Canyon Lake for the seventh consecutive year.
Despite the rain, the teams and or-
ganizer Julie Szabo were able to count 120 species and 7404 birds within
a 15-mile radius of Lake
Elsinore. In Can-
The Freemans started bird watching many years ago at the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve located at the south- ern end of the Santa Ana Mountains near Murrieta. It’s been called a hidden gem that offers a fascinating glimpse into the history and ecosystems of the area.
When Linda saw a call for help for the Christmas Bird Count in a local publica- tion, she answered it and has been count- ing birds in Canyon Lake ever since.
Linda has transformed her backyard into a haven for birds by providing the essentials; food, water and shelter. She enjoys bird watching daily from her window and yard.
Linda’s favorite bird that visits her yard is the Hooded Oriole. “Every spring for the past 10 years they return and make a nest in my palm tree. After they raise their family, they head off to Mexico until the next spring. They love palm and citrus trees. If you have that combination in your yard, there’s a good chance you’ll see a Hooded Oriole in the spring,” she says.
When it comes to the bird counting, her favorite bird is the Cedar Waxwing. “It doesn’t come through the area ev- ery year, so it’s fun to try to find it each year,” she says.
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yon Lake, 462
family bird activity will be the Audu- bon Society’s 20th annual Great Back- yard Bird Count this weekend from Fri- day, February 17, to Monday, February 20. It’s one birding activity that can be done from anywhere on the planet. The Great Backyard Bird Count is a free, fun and easy event that engages bird watch- ers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of bird populations. This is especially fun for Canyon Lak- ers as so many birds migrate through the area.
Anyone can take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count, from beginning bird watchers to experts, and birds can be counted in backyards, local parks, nearby wildlife reserves, on a walking trial, from a window, etc.
All participants have to do is spend a
min- imum of
15 minutes watch-
tallying the number and types of birds they see on one or more days of the four- day event and report their sightings on- line at birdcount.org.
According to the Audubon Society, last year more than 160,000 participants submitted their bird observations online, creating the largest instantaneous snap- shot of global bird populations ever re- corded.
The count helps researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society learn more about how birds are doing, and how to protect them and the environment we share.
One resident who will be participat- ing again this year is Linda Freeman. Linda and her husband Lee are avid bird watchers. “When we travel, we make sure to set aside one or two days for bird watching. We’ve watched birds in Tahiti, Mexico, New Zealand, Austra- lia, Canada and many of the states in the U.S.” sasy Linda.
birds and 26 species were
counted.
The next opportunity for a
ing and
Linda Freeman photographed this black-headed grosbeack when it paid a visit to her yard. The
black-headed grosbeak is a medium-size seed-eating bird in the same family as the northern Canyon Lake resident Sandy Kan captured this hungry bird enjoying a meal. cardinal, the cardinalidae. As feeders they effortlessly shuck sunflower seeds with their heavy bills.
PHOTO BY SANDY KAN
PHOTO BY LINDA FREEMAN