About Birds & Nature

ENJOY & LEARN

Photo Credit: Diane Birdsall

Photo Credit: Wes Timmerman

Next Program: SPECIAL DATE! Tues Dec 16, 6:00 pm

ZOOM ONLY!

At 5:30 pm we will have a social time to meet and chat

Winter Bird Identification & Christmas Bird Count Prep

Susan Patla

Retired Avian Biologist, Wyoming Game & Fish Dept

Free and Open to All!

About the Program - Winter Bird Identification & Christmas Bird Count Prep

Is that a Black-capped or a Mountain Chickadee?

Ducks at 10º below? Crows vs. Ravens in the ice fog? Cassin's or House Finches fighting over the feeders? No problem! Susan Patla will teach the basics of identifying our winter birds and outline preparations for this year's Christmas Bird Count.

Susan Patla worked as a nongame biologist for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department for 20 years based out of the Jackson region. Her work involved conservation planning and monitoring for a wide range of avian and mammal species including Trumpeter Swan, Bald Eagle, Common Loon, Long-billed Curlew, Peregrine Falcon, Wolverine and Canada Lynx. In 2012, she was part of the team that received the first standard North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) grant in Wyoming, to purchase conservation easements, develop wetland ponds, and restore cottonwoods in the Upper Green River basin south of Pinedale, WY. Retired since 2019, Susan continues to stay involved with conservation issues and monitoring swans, and other bird species. She also learned a lesson from the birds and now migrates south to enjoy the biodiversity and birding in the Sonoran desert during the winter months.

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Photo courtesy Susan Patla

Image by David Sibley

Join Us for the Christmas Bird Count!

Photo Credit: Susan Marsh

Our 2025 Christmas Bird Count will take place on Saturday, December 20. This is a community effort so join birders across North America and beyond in the largest and oldest Citizen Science project in the world. To sign up for an area or if you have any questions about the count, please contact Susan Marsh using our contact form.

Our count circle includes a variety of places where you can ski, walk, snowshoe, ride a snow bike, or drive. See map. If you have a bird feeder in the count circle, you may join from home. We are planning our usual festive pre-count breakfast at Bubba’s, meeting at 8:00 a.m. on Count Day, December 20.

A reminder that although we tally both numbers and species on Count Day, Count Week includes the three days before and the three days after Count Day. All species seen between December 17 and December 23 will be included in our species list. We usually pick up a few additional species during Count Week.