We're kicking off a four-part series of news stories this weekend with local birder and nature enthusiast Cal Cuthbert of Delta Beach. Today's story is about a program that starts today and is s being held over this long weekend called The Great Backyard Bird Count. It started back at about 1998 and is a joint program with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the Audubon Society, along with the Canadian Partner of Birds Canada. 

He explains what the weekend's all about.

"It's pretty fun. It's an easy event that engages birders -- bird watchers, literally of all ages -- in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of the bird populations," says Cuthbert. "Participants are asked to count birds for as little as 15 minutes. But you can spend as long as you want, for that matter, on one or more of the four days. It's a four-day event and, ultimately, they report their sightings online at Birdcount.org."

He says anybody can take part, from beginners, people just starting out, to seasoned birders who've been doing it for years. 

"You can participate from the backyard, your front yard, the middle of a bush, middle of a field -- anywhere in the world. This is a global undertaking, by the way," notes Cuthbert. "I haven't personally done this, but I am quite involved with eBird entries. So, when I'm out in the field or in incidental bird observations, anywhere I am, I will ultimately answer them on a website. It's eBird and it's a very thorough listing of all of the bird sightings across, literally, everywhere -- from the province, country and globally. There's a checklist entry. The Great Backyard Bird Count is a fun thing, I believe, for anybody that is interested in birds and has bird feeders or whatever." 

If you'd like to get involved, information can be found at the website https://www.birdcount.org/

See part two tomorrow with Cuthbert!