Letter to the editor: North Dakota missed out on national bird counting event

It seems like just a few months ago that Jamestown area was pushing itself as the next great place for birdwatchers to visit. Growing up in the area I agreed but what I saw this past weekend makes me wonder what happened to the idea.

This past weekend was the Great Backyard Bird Count, a national event that covers all of North America and many other places in the world. This is an annual event that tallies birds seen over a four-day period. These tallies are sent in by birders from every corner of the world except North Dakota, especially Stutsman County. There were less than 60 people in North Dakota who submitted bird reports and none were from Jamestown or Stutsman County. What happened? Where are the people who professed such an interest in birding?

South Dakota has almost 100 birders report in, Montana had hundreds of reports and even Wyoming, with less population, had as many observers as North Dakota.

This info was taken from the latest reports submitted to http://www.birdcount.org/.

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