Notes about your surroundings

Watch the Birdies--Anyone with avian interests is invited to join in the 95th National Christmas Bird Count on Saturday from dawn until sundown.

Saturday’s bird count will concentrate on South County areas, including Doheny Beach, the San Juan Creek estuary, Dana Point Harbor and San Clemente.

Inland areas to be surveyed include Ronald W. Caspers Regional Park, Laguna Niguel Regional Park, the Saddleback College area, Aliso/Wood Canyons Regional Park and Camp Pendleton.

Birders will be dispatched to different areas to count different species. It is not necessary to be an expert birder; in fact, people of all experience levels are encouraged to participate. All birders should bring binoculars and bird identification books.

A section by section report of the count will be included in National Audubon’s American Birds publication which summarizes all the bird counts across the country.

Bird counts will also be held in other parts of the county this month and in January. For more information on Saturday’s bird count and other events, call South Coast Audubon at (714) 661-7525. For information on bird counts in northeast or northwest Orange County, call Sea & Sage Audubon Society at (714) 261-7963.