The Mohonk Preserve will sponsor an introduction to Project FeederWatch on Saturday, Oct. 31, from 10 to 11:30 a.m.
Program FeederWatch is a winter-long survey of birds organized by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in which anyone can participate from the comfort of their own home.
“It’s a really phenomenal program,” Kate Johnson said, the preserve’s public programs education coordinator. “The program that we’re going to be having is going to be an introduction on how to use the [Project FeederWatch] Web site and enter the information that the ornithologists are looking for.”
Some of that information includes the location of feeders, the number of birds and their varieties, according to Johnson.
Julie Noble, a City of Kingston educator, said that environmental educators from the Forsyth Nature Center in Kingston also will explain how to describe the location of feeders, count the birds, identify varieties and choose the right bird seed.
Following the lecture, attendees will have the opportunity to make their own bird feeders.
“We will hang bird feeders of all sorts and then observe those feeders and ones we have put up already,” Noble said.
The event is “intergenerational,” according to Noble, who expects the audience to include local educators and others interested in ornithology.
“It’s citizens’ science at its best,” she said.
Children must have an adult chaperone but the preserve recommends children no younger than five attend.
Reservations are required and can be made by calling 845-255-0919.