Ely Field Naturalists celebrate year end and new year ahead including upcoming Ely Christmas Bird Count

by Bill Tefft
The Ely Field Naturalists will make a presentation in Classroom CL104 at Vermilion Community from 6:30 until 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 4.
This meeting will provide a wrap-up to many of the 2019 field naturalist activities and will prepare for upcoming Christmas Bird Counts, winter solstice celebration and 2020 plans.
The Ely Christmas Bird Count will be conducted on Ely’s Winter Solstice date, Saturday, Dec. 21. The solstice occurs at 10:19 p.m. CST on the Dec. 21. Many calendars show the date of the solstice as Dec. 22 which is accurate using the Universal Time Clock.
Information on all of the Christmas Bird Counts in Minnesota can be found at the Minnesota Ornithologist’s Union website calendar of bird count locations at www.moumn.org/CBC/cal/calendar.php
Ely’s count will be organized by Bill Tefft. Bill will contact counter volunteers from previous years to determine the counters and locations for each. Anyone wanting to join in the count can contact him at 218-235-8078 by phone or text message.
At the end of the day, there will be a 4 p.m. gathering at The Boathouse in Ely for an initial tally of the results and an opportunity for access to food and drink. Afterwards, at 6 p.m. all field naturalists and others who would like to celebrate the seasonal change of the sun begins its movement north as our daylight period starts getting longer at the solstice.
We will add any additional decorations and light the tree at the Ely Field Naturalist Resource Center at 41 E. Chapman Street above the NAPA Store only one block from the Boathouse. We hope to see you at any or all of these activities.