Don’t be surprised to see groups of people standing out in a number of fields, roads or near the woods Saturday with binoculars in one hand and a note pad in the other.
They will be taking part in the 39th annual Christmas Bird Count that is being held in Grey Bruce.
Local organizer Freeman Boyd says there are six 15 kilometre diameter circle areas that are used to take the bird census, and groups of four people are assigned to a certain area in one of the circles to spot and count the birds.
He says each of these citizen scientists who annually braves snow, wind, or rain, to take part in the Christmas Bird Count makes an enormous contribution to conservation.
Boyd says Bird Studies Canada will use data collected in this long running wildlife census to assess the health of bird populations and to help guide conservation action.
He says every year they usually identify more than 60 different species of birds and count usually more than 5 thousand individual birds.
Boyd says over the years the local bird population has remained pretty consistent with no major decline in any of the local species.