Birding at Ney - Ney Nature Center

We welcome birders at Ney, and have a bird display in our Education Building of preserved specimens collected by Art and Barb Straub. Trail maps can be found here if you’re visiting! In addition, we have a digital way to bird with us:

Live Feed of Bird Songs Being Heard at Ney’s Education Building

The Ney Winter Bird Count

Each year, we provide information to the Christmas Bird Count (CBC), a long-standing program of the National Audubon Society with over 100 years of citizen science involvement. For more information on the count’s history and how the data is used today, click here.

Each year the Ney Nature Center serves as an established CBC circle, so we hold our own Ney Winter Bird Count to collect the information needed to participate. Families, professional birders, or ‘newbies,’ armed with bird guides and checklists, observe their bird feeding stations or explore select areas within a 7.5 mile radius of the Ney Nature Center. Thousands of volunteers throughout the Americas take part in this adventure each season between December 14 and January 5, an event that has become a family tradition for generations.

We invite you, your family, and your friends to partake in our 28th annual count on Saturday, December 14th. There are several ways you can participate:

1. If you reside within the 7.5 mile radius (view image below), you are welcome to participate from home and submit your data to us.

2. If you do not reside within the 7.5 mile radius (view image below), you can visit the Nature Center or another public land within our count area and submit your birding data.

Find map of circle here: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/1/edit?mid=1pa2LDn02yzdKB6-acU6cvqvabj1WAeM&usp=sharing

Click here to download the data sheets for the count: 2023 Tally Sheet

Instructions for conducting the count from home

You may wish to count once or several times throughout the day, keeping in mind that winter birds typically feed after the sun rises, shortly after noon, and again from 3:00 pm to sunset. The tally sheet has four times indicated, and we encourage participants to carry out their count during those times.
When you return your final tally, send or bring it to the NNC.
If you observe birds not listed on the tally sheet, please list them. Photos of birds not on the list are also helpful.
Indicate the area/address in which you counted and the amount of time spent counting at the bird feeder and traveling.
In the final tally, please include the greatest number of species observed at one time, so as not to count a bird more than twice. For example:

Tally Sheet	8:30 am	11:30 am	1:30 pm	3:30 pm
Blue Jay	4	7	0	3
Pheasant	0	9	0	6
Chickadee	6	2	8	0
–
Final Tally	7 Blue Jays	9 Pheasants	8 Chickadees

Instructions for counting on public lands

The tallying is the same as above, the only difference is you might not revisit the same spot twice or you may count in different places at different times.
If you count in different locations, record the places or route you took.
If you are counting on public lands, be sure to wear blaze orange or pink as many are open for hunting. Count from parking lots, trails, or roadsides when possible.
Below is a map of a few public lands within our 7.5 mile circle.
- NNC Count Circle map

The Ney Winter Bird Count

Instructions for conducting the count from home

Instructions for counting on public lands

Past Reports