Christmas is for the Birds

This year is the 120th annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count. It began December 14th and runs through January 5th. The tradition started in 1900 in at the beginning of the conservation movement. Since the beginning, citizen scientists have used the information gathered to track trends in bird populations.
I took part on December 15th and had an eventful and cold day. Once again, I put my discomfort aside for the sake of nature. The day began at 4 AM with three hours of owling. My partner Chris drove us around to a few sites where we'd listen in the dark for owl calls. In an attempt to draw them out, he played owl calls on his phone. We heard a screech owl at one location and a pair of great horned owls in a duet at another place.

Great horned owl

After a pit stop around 7 AM we picked up the third member of our trio at sunrise and began our visual observations with nearly three dozen turkey vultures overhead near a roosting site. I happen to know about this roost because I drive past it on the way to and from work, and depending on my schedule I see the vultures either leaving for the day or returning for the night. Right away my presence paid off. In past years, Chris and John start their count headed the other direction.
Over half our time was spent in the car. Much of what we saw was from the road. We did some walking though, and it was tough in some places. Recent rain meant soggy ground. It's December and Pennsylvania, which is rarely a good combination. In addition to the cold, it was windy. The wind made for great raptor conditions, but bad for everything else. It was difficult to hear bird calls over the sound of the wind. Watching for motion in the trees and bushes was confusing because everything was moving.

Turkey vulture

This year we counted 47 different species, and a total of 735 birds. In 2018 we counted 38 species and 754 birds. Canada geese were the big winners this year, coming in at 266. However, they were mainly in two flocks. The birds we spotted the most times were turkey vultures and house finches. I look forward to counting more birds in 2020!

Canada goose