Resolved to get out more in 2014 but need to ease into it? We’ve got two birding programs that promise a mix of mellow movement and awesome outdoor exposure. And if you’re looking to up your competitive resume in the year just begun, we’ve got a run in the mountains in a lesser-known natural area. Regardless of where you currently fit into the movement spectrum, it’s a good first weekend to an active new year.
Another year, another opportunity for change. And what better way to think about what that change may look like and how you can make it happen than with a head cleared by fresh, clean air. Fresh, clean air inhaled on a New Year’s Day hike.
Lucky for you, such events abound.
Thanks to the North Carolina State Parks’ First Day Hikes program, every park in the system is hosting a hike today. That means that no matter where you live in the state, there’s an organized New Year’s Day hike near you.
The hikes vary in length and when they start. To find out what’s happening at a state park near you, go to ncparks.gov.
A great way to start a new year.
With the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count in full swing we’ve got birds on the mind this weekend. For birders, amateurs and experienced alike, it’s an especially good time to do the count: Migrants from northern climes are descending upon the state, particularly the coastal part, to wait out the winter months, adding even more variety to the state’s mix. And, as it turns out, it’s an especially good time for birding programs.
Monday — never an easy time for the outdoors enthusiast. After a weekend of adventure, returning to the humdrum work-a-day world can make one melancholy. To help ease the transition, every Monday we feature a 90 Second Escape — essentially, a 90-second video or slide show of a place you’d probably rather be: a trail, a park, a greenway, a lake … anywhere as long as it’s not under a fluorescent bulb.
At the turn of the 20th century, it was a big deal to go out on Christmas Day and look for birds. At the time, though, the “looking” involved bringing a shotgun.
Frank Chapman was a fan of the custom, though not necessarily the gun part. So on Christmas Day 1899 he got the idea to go out and identify and count the birds, not shoot them. The idea caught on and 114 years later tens of thousands of folks throughout the Western Hemisphere take to the outdoors to look for birds as part of the annual Christmas Bird Count. The exercise helps scientists keeps tabs on the bird population and identify potentially harmful developments in the bird world.
Here’s how it works: Each count is assigned an area 15 miles in diameter. Volunteers spend the day canvassing the area counting as many different birds as they can find. The results are then shipped to the National Audubon for analysis. You needn’t be an accomplished birder to participate; In fact, one of the great things about the count is that it often gives amateurs an opportunity to hang with and learn from accomplished birders. Not to mention the chance to lurk about the woods all day in search of nature.
The count occurs over a three-week period, this year ending Jan. 5. From the Carolina Bird Club website we’ve culled the counts remaining in North Carolina. For the full list of counts in North Carolina (and South), visit their site.
For more about the count, visit the Audubon CBC site here.