A6
NEWS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
Contributed photo/Peter Meyer
Barb Meyer spots a great blue heron during the Christmas
Bird Count in 2018.
Christmas Bird Count
planned for Dec. 14
By Tom Winters
For the Blue Mountain
Eagle
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Weston Moulton, 3, left, and his brother Ryder, 5, of Mt. Vernon make Christmas ornaments with Rick Callahan and his
wife, JJ Collier, of John Day Saturday at the Blue Mountain Hospital Auxiliary bazaar at the Grant County Fairgrounds.
Holiday bazaar sees elbow-to-elbow rush
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
There was a marked
increase of holiday hustle
and bustle at Saturday’s Blue
Mountain Hospital Auxil-
iary bazaar held at the Grant
County Fairgrounds pavil-
ion and Keerins Hall in John
Day.
The event, organized by
Michele Bishop of Canyon
City, had 63 vendors in the
pavilion and 16 in Keerins
Hall.
“We had eight new ven-
dors this year,” said Bishop,
who was voted in as the
auxiliary’s vice president in
September. This is her sec-
ond year spearheading the
annual event.
Funds raised through
table rentals and a drawing
for handmade items donated
by vendors benefit the auxil-
iary’s projects.
“It raises money to do
great things for the com-
munity,” Bishop said, add-
ing that donations last year
helped purchase scoop
stretchers for the Blue
Mountain Hospital ambu-
lances, water stations at the
hospital to refill water bot-
tles, as well as senior center
meals.
“It was busier than usual,”
she said. “Everyone seemed
to be having fun, and it was
packed at times. I think the
vendors were happy.”
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Jim Bay of John Day purchases an item from Jamie Brown,
owner of St. Serpent Herb Farm in John Day, at Saturday’s
Blue Mountain Hospital Auxiliary bazaar held at the Grant
County Fairgrounds pavilion.
Three-year-old Freidrick Maurer of John Day is delight-
ed with a small gift from Santa, a wristband. The young-
ster asked Santa for some games for Christmas while at
Saturday’s bazaar in John Day.
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The 39th John Day
Christmas Bird Count will
be Saturday, Dec. 14.
Participants will meet
at The Outpost restaurant
no later than 7 a.m., earlier
for those wanting break-
fast. The compilation and
monthly bird club meeting
will be at Cecil and Irene
Gagnon’s home that evening
starting at 5:30 p.m. Every-
one is welcome that eve-
ning for the potluck dinner.
Participants should dress
warmly and be prepared
for the day’s weather. They
should also bring binoculars,
field guide, lunch and bev-
erages as most parties will
be out the full day and out
of town. For more informa-
tion, contact Tom Winters
at 541-542-2006 or tjwin-
ters1951@gmail.com.
For additional birding
experience, Joel Geier will
conduct the Antone Christ-
mas Bird Count Monday,
Dec. 16. This count is cen-
tered west of the John Day
Fossil Beds. Participants
need to meet at the Cant
Ranch House at the Fos-
sil Beds by 8 a.m. The com-
pilation will take place after
4:15 p.m. For more informa-
tion, contact Geier at joel.
geier@peak.org.
Since the Christmas Bird
Count began 120 years ago,
it has relied on the dedica-
tion and commitment of vol-
unteer citizen scientists. The
Christmas Bird Count sea-
son is Dec. 14 through Jan.
5 each year, and each com-
piler chooses a date within
this period. There is a spe-
cific methodology to the
counts, but everyone can
participate. The count takes
place within “count cir-
cles,” which focus on spe-
cific geographical areas. The
John Day “circle” bound-
aries are Four Corners and
Beech Creek Road on the
north, the John Day River
crossing west of Mt. Vernon,
the Canyon Creek cross-
ing 5 miles south of Canyon
City and Hall’s Hill to the
east. Each circle is led by a
count compiler, Tom Winters
being the compiler for the
John Day count. Beginning
birders can join a group that
includes at least one experi-
enced birdwatcher. People
whose homes are within the
boundaries of a count circle
can stay home and report the
birds visiting feeders if they
have arranged to do so with
the compiler.
Prior to the turn of the 20th
century, hunters engaged in a
holiday tradition known as
the Christmas “side hunt.”
They would choose sides
and go afield with their
guns, and whoever brought
in the biggest pile of feath-
ered (and furred) quarry
won. Conservation was in its
beginning stages in that era,
and many observers and sci-
entists were becoming con-
cerned about declining bird
populations. Beginning on
Christmas Day 1900, orni-
thologist Frank M. Chap-
man, an early officer in the
then-nascent Audubon Soci-
ety, 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. Thanks to the
inspiration of Chapman and
the enthusiasm of 27 ded-
icated birders, 25 Christ-
mas Bird Counts were held
that day. The locations
ranged from Toronto, Can-
ada, to Pacific Grove, Cali-
fornia, with most counts in
or near the population cen-
ters of northeastern North
America. Those original
27 Christmas counters tal-
lied around 90 species on all
the counts combined. The
data collected by observers
over the past century allow
Audubon researchers, con-
servation biologists, wildlife
agencies and other interested
individuals to study the long-
term health and status of bird
populations across North
America. When combined
with other surveys such as
the Breeding Bird Survey, it
provides a picture of how the
continent’s bird populations
have changed in time and
space over the past hundred
years. The long-term per-
spective is vital for conserva-
tionists. It informs strategies
to protect birds and their hab-
itat, and helps identify envi-
ronmental issues with impli-
cations for people as well.
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