Watching birds is a year-round pleasure for Becky and me — daily to see their beauty and vitality, their aerial acrobatics, their antics and doings that reveal their native smarts. And to make sure there are birds to watch we bait the yard.

As part of the Great Backyard Bird Count initiative, a global community science project that helps researchers understand how birds are doing before they undertake their great spring migration, Mainspring Conservation Trust is hosting its own event. 

Since its origin in 1900, the Christmas Bird Count has become a holiday fixture for ever-expanding numbers of birders across the globe, giving a valuable gift to generations of wildlife scientists — a massive trove of data on bird populations in the Western Hemisphere.

The Franklin Bird Club leads walks along the greenway on Wednesday mornings at 8 a.m. Walks start at alternating locations: Macon County Public Library, Big Bear Park and Salali Lane. 

Birders around the state are encouraged to grab their binoculars, guidebooks, hiking boots and best birding friends for a weekend of non-stop “atlasting” from June 28-30. 

The Franklin Bird Club will lead walks along the greenway on Wednesday mornings at 8 a.m. 

One day last December, a flock of robins descended on the loaded winterberry hollies in our yard, their red breasts making the clump look like it was hung with big Christmas tree ornaments.

Join MountainTrue’s 18th annual caravan around the Lake Chatuge shoreline to view a variety of birds 7:30-9:30 a.m. Saturday, March 9. 

Catch a sight of migratory birds at 8 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 17, at Lake Junaluska. 

The Franklin Bird Club leads weekly birding walks along the Little Tennessee River Greenway in Franklin at 8 a.m. Wednesday mornings, with the public welcome to join.