The 11th Annual Winter Bird Count for Kids is coming up 9 a.m.-noon, Saturday, Jan. 25 at Lake Los Carneros Park, 304 N. Los Carneros Road, Goleta.

Registration is 9-9:30 a.m. on the grounds of Stow House.

The event is sponsored by the Santa Barbara Audubon Society with support from the city of Goleta.

Designed to inspire the next generation of nature-lovers, the winter count offers children ages 8-16 a time to learn from expert birders about the various birds in the Santa Barbara region.

The first 75 participants will receive a free t-shirt, featuring artwork by Lucy London. A list of target bird species will be provided to each child as a keepsake.

Children will first learn how to use binoculars, which will be available for loan (one per family) at the event.

From 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. kids will explore Lake Los Carneros with experienced volunteer leaders, who will show them what to look and listen for.

Following the walk everyone will gather at Stow House, where the a leader will guide the young birders through a compilation – tallying the number of bird species seen (last year we had 49 species). During the compilation, educators will display large photos of each species seen.

SBAS offers a host of educational programs throughout the year.

At the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, visitors can view SBAS ambassador birds at an aviary, with volunteers bringing them out on a glove several hours a week.

The SBAS Eyes in the Sky program provides some 80 off-site presentations per year. About half of those make up a three-part Meet Your Wild Neighbor program, which reaches 16 K-third grade classrooms, mostly at Title I schools.

The rest are presentations at local elementary schools, retirement communities, community centers, and with partner organizations like the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden.

The Winter Bird Count for Kids is run entirely by volunteers. For more about the event and its volunteer opportunities, visit https://santabarbaraaudubon.org/events/wbc4k/.