The 125th Christmas Bird Count (CBC) season is here! Our chapter does not run the counts ourselves, they are run independently by dedicated volunteer Compilers. However, each year the Lahontan Audubon Society (LAS) promotes the upcoming counts happening in around northern Nevada.

To join a Christmas Bird Count, please refer to the National Audubon Society's CBC page, which includes instructions and a link to the CBC circles map.  As counts get filled, the circles on their map will turn red. Click on the yellow and green circles on the map to contact the CBC Compiler prior to count day. Local count dates are listed below for reference.

If you are new to the CBC program and would like to learn, please contact the CBC Compiler and they can pair you with an experienced CBC surveyor so that you can learn how to collect the data and be assigned to a circle section.  If a count circle is full, please email us at [email protected]. There will be more group birding events for the February Backyard Bird Count and we can send you more information.

Announcements:  Carson City and Pyramid Lake CBCs are not open to new volunteers this year due to limited space. The Hart Mountain CBC is cancelled this year due to a recent fire.

Click here to learn about the Christmas Bird Counts and methodology for counting birds!

For southern Nevada CBCs, please check the Red Rock Audubon website.

Please email our Education Chair, Alan Gubanich, if you can help out with any of these events!

Sunday Sep 29, 2024, 7:00 am - 1:00 pm - Riverside Farmer's Market
Contact: Please contact Patty Moen if you can volunteer for this event.
Location:  Idlewild Park, 1735 Shadow Park Dr., Reno
Description:  Tabling booth at the Riverside Farmer's Market to help sell books donated from the John Davis collection. Meet new people, let them know about Lahontan Audubon Society, and have fun browsing the market stalls while you are there! Food trucks on site. Setup is at 7am and take down is at 1 pm. There will be a bird walk around the park at 10 am.

Wednesday Oct 2, 2024, 8:45am - 3:45pm - Donner Trail Elementary
Location:  52755 Donner Pass Road, Soda Springs, CA 95728
Event:  River Day
Description:  Volunteer at a bird station table to show students about the birds that might be found around the Soda Springs area. Bird taxidermy mounts can be checked out for use at the Galena Creek Visitor Center or Rosewood Nature Study Area. Groups of up to 10 students will rotate through the bird station and other stations on this day. Table time with the students lasts about 30 minutes per group.

Sunday Oct 13, 2024, 8:00 - 10:00 am - Swan Lake Nature Study Area
Location:  Off Lear Blvd. (see map)
Event:  Discover Our Parks with Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation
Description:  We are looking for a volunteer to talk about Swan Lake and the birds that are found there and also volunteers to help lead participants on a walk to look for birds along the trail and boardwalk. Taxidermy birds may be used for the talk portion in the outdoor pavilion as an option.

Thursday Oct 24, 9:00am - 3:10pm - Fernley Intermediate School
Location:  320 Falcon Dr, Fernley, NV 89408
Event:  Outdoor Day
Description:  Volunteer at one of two tables. This is an annual event at the school and LAS has been there every year. The event is held in Fernley, around the school's outdoor track. Several organizations have tables and displays and the kids move from station to station. Each class (usually about 20 to 25 students, plus 1 or 2 teachers) move from one station to the next, spending about 30 or 35 minutes at each station. FREE lunch for volunteers! Table 1 includes bird mounts and skins of birds found around Fernley. Table 2 includes the bird identification activity with binoculars. Multiple volunteers are needed for this event!

Upcoming in October, date not yet set, 1:00 - 3:00 pm M, W, or F - Gardnerville Health and Rehabilitation
Location:  1573 Muller Parkway in Gardnerville
Event: Bird Talk (your subject choice!)
Description:  We are looking for volunteers to give talks about birds to the residents of this skilled nursing facility. Residents have a keen interest in the local birds. Talks would be 45 min. - 1 hour in length. We are hoping to have volunteers give talks once a month or so, pending availability. Alan has a laptop and projector for loan as needed.

Fall School Talk opportunity, date not yet set, sometime during school hours
Location:  Private School in Incline Village (contact Alan for details)
Event: Owls!
Description:  The students will be learning about owls this Fall and we need a volunteer to lead or help Alan with an owl talk for the students.

Lahontan Audubon Society volunteers - opening the world of birds to our children!

Thank you photographers for your submissions to our contest, and thank you to everyone who participated! The board has voted, and the July/August 2024 Photo of the Month is Deanna Peters's Turkey Vulture! Congratulations, Deanna! 

Welcome to our quarterly newsletter's art section! We hope you enjoy the art. 

By Valerie Andersen
​The Flyaway Bird Rescue Facility is here to help, but YOU can help them too!

It is June and all the baby birds are out and about!  Thank you photographers for submitting the beautiful bird photos!  Congratulations to our June winner, Brian Meltzner, who captured an "aw" moment of a baby Clark's Grebe riding on it's mom's back. Honorable mentions go to Judy Duffy for her photo of a Green-tailed Towhee carrying food back to its chick, and also to Deanna Peters' family of Great Blue Herons!

Congratulations Brian Meltzner on winning the May 2024 bird photo of the month!  Congratulations also to our finalists, Diane Killeen and Cal DeCoursey!

If you have photos to share with our birding community, please check out our photo contest!