If you enjoy birding, photographing birds, or just watching them at the bird feeder, then join in on the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count at Indiana Dunes National Park / NPS file photo

Do you enjoy birding, photographing birds, or just watching them from your window as they sit at your bird feeder? On December 31st get outside and have fun helping with the Audubon Christmas Bird Count and make an important contribution to conservation. Tens of thousands of volunteers throughout the Americas take part in an adventure that has become a family tradition. Audubon and other organizations will use data collected in this longest running wildlife census to assess the health of bird populations and to guide conservation actions. 

Indiana Dunes National Park will be facilitating this count on Saturday, December 31 in the INDW birding circle.  The circle is located in the northeast parts of Lake County and the northwest parts of Porter County. Volunteer birders will be assigned a location within the circle for that day, or they can do counts at their home bird feeders.

Contact park ranger Christine Gerlach to register or learn more. She can be reached by email at e-mail us or by phone at 219-395-1885.  Count sign-up deadline is Monday, December 26.