Counting birds in Mindo

The second X-mas Bird Count we participated in this year was the Mindo-Tandayapa Bird Count. As the compiler of the count data and member of the Mindo Naturalist Guides Asociation, I was also quite busy helping with the organization of the count this year. The CBC in Mindo is the biggest x-mas bird count event in Ecuador with 200-300 participants each year. So there is a lot to organize beforehand: count routes, leaders, pre-inscription of participants, flyers, posters, T-Shirts, lunch boxes, meetings with authorities, lodging, transport etc…etc… All this logistical work is done by a few volunteers from our asociation and so the last weeks before the count are always crazy. Especially the very last day before the count day when 300 box lunches need to be prepared and packed, banners need to be placed on the road, arriving participants need to be inscribed, visiting friends need to be lodged and fed, and the agenda of the opening ceremony needs to be taken care of. After the ceremony, when all count routes were organized, box lunches and T-shirts were handed out and everybody was good to go for the count day, we finally could be looking forward to the count day with relief.