SAN LUIS VALLEY — On Christmas Day in 1900, ornithologist Frank M Chapman, with the newly formed Audubon Society, proposed an annual holiday tradition of counting birds, and the Christmas Bird Count began. This year, the Christmas Bird Count in Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve continues the tradition on Dec. 31. 

According to the park service, birders and nature enthusiasts in the San Luis Valley are invited to join participants across the Western Hemisphere for Audubon's longest-running wintertime tradition: the annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC). Volunteers of all skill levels and ages are welcome and encouraged to participate in this exciting event. During the bird count, volunteers go out into the field and take stock of the bird species and their numbers and record that data. 

The Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count is not just a survey, but one of the longest-running citizen science surveys in the world. The count has evolved from happening just on Christmas Day to the period between Dec. 15 and Jan. 5. Tens of thousands of volunteers across North America brave winter weather not just to contribute to a dataset that spans more than a century, but to learn and help track bird populations and trends. 

Now in its 125th year, the tradition began in 1900, when 27 conservationists in 25 locations proposed an alternative to the "side hunt," a holiday activity where teams competed to shoot the most birds and small mammals. Instead, these pioneers counted and recorded the birds they saw, laying the groundwork for what is now regarded as one of history's most significant citizen-based conservation efforts, the Christmas Bird Count. On the first count, the observers recorded seeing over 18,500 individual birds from 89 species. 

Citizen-recorded data assists researchers, conservation biologists, wildlife agencies, and professionals in ascertaining the long-term health and status of bird populations throughout North America. 

Last year, Great Sand Dunes National Park held its annual count on December 30 and volunteers recorded 30 species. Twelve observers walked eight miles and drove 54 miles during the count. Common birds were Western Scrub Jay, Stellar's Jay and Juniper Titmouse. Two sightings of a Virginia Rail and an American Wigeon required filing a rare bird report. 

Individuals must register as park volunteers to join the bird count at Great Sand Dunes. Interested participants should contact Park Biologist Dewane Mosher at 719-378-6363 or dewane_mosher@nps.gov to sign up. Registered volunteers will receive a waiver for the park entrance fee on the day of the event. Those under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. 

All participants are required to arrive at the park starting at 7:45 a.m. on Dec. 31, to complete necessary paperwork, review safety guidelines, and receive maps and instructions for their assigned areas. Participants are encouraged to bring their own binoculars and spotting scopes. A limited number of these items may be available to borrow. 

"If we had not had a Christmas Bird Count in those early years, we would not have as strong an understanding of long-term bird trends. Many of these changes take place gradually,” stated Chan Robbins, legendary biologist, retired US Fish and Wildlife Service employee, and creator of the North American Breeding Bird Survey.