Thanks to the leadership of board members JoAnn Hackos and Tom Ryon, Evergreen Audubon members recently participated in National Audubon Society’s Climate Watch for the first time. Climate Watch was launched in 2016 to collect data on how birds are reacting to climate change and shifting their ranges. 

JoAnn, Tom, Kim Hamilton, Judy Blake, and Rhonda Miklic visited a total of 12 locations in each of three 10×10 km territories in the Evergreen area, spending five minutes in each, counting the number of individual birds for the species of interest: our three local nuthatches; mountain and western bluebirds; and lesser and American goldfinches. Tom will be entering the data on the NAS Climate Watch website for use by NAS researchers. 

Climate Watch is conducted twice a year – the summer watch between May 15 and June 15 and the winter watch between January 15 and February 15 – and is another way we as individuals can participate in important research that ultimately helps birds. Our plan is to make this citizen science activity a regular Evergreen Audubon event, like the Christmas Bird Count and Dawn Chorus. Look for information in December and plan to join us early in 2026 for the Winter Watch.

In the meantime, you can read more about Climate Watch on the National Audubon website at: https://www.audubon.org/community-science/climate-watch