BIRDS IN ADVENT

 

Audubon's 122nd Christmas Bird Count  takes place in the Western Hemisphere from Tuesday, December 14, 2021 through Wednesday, January 5, 2022.   We were to do ours this past Saturday, but a storm was predicted so it was moved to Sunday, 4^th of Advent. Again I did it with 2 Islanders, Gigi (one of  our Oblates) and her husband Jim, an incredible naturalist. 

Prior to the turn of the 20th century, hunters engaged in a holiday tradition known as the Christmas "Side Hunt." They would choose sides and go afield with their guns. Whoever brought in the biggest pile of feathered (and furred) quarry won.

Conservation was in its beginning stages in that era, and many observers and scientists were becoming concerned about declining bird populations. Beginning on Christmas Day 1900, ornithologist Frank M. Chapman, an early officer in the then-nascent Audubon Society, proposed a new holiday tradition, a "Christmas Bird Census" that would count birds during the holidays rather than hunt them.

That first count was in 1900. Twenty-seven birders conducted counts at 25 sites, tallying about 89 bird species. We have come a long way.

Last year’s Christmas Bird Count was  one for the record books.

The COVID-19 pandemic consumed the world after the end of 2019. Even as summaries were being written for last year’s 120th CBC, it was clear that the coming 2020 season—the 121st CBC—would be drastically affected by all the shutdowns and governmental regulations at all levels that had been put in place in an attempt to control the spread of the virus. For a period, it appeared that, for the safety of participants, Audubon would need to cancel the 121st CBC—potentially resulting in the first time in 120 years that a Christmas Bird Count was not held. But COVID-safe guidelines were developed and approved—and followed by compilers—and the count went on.

Birders covered 2,459 circles during the CBC, with 1,842 counts in the United States, 451 in Canada, and 166 throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Pacific Islands. While the total number of counts is lower than any season since the 114th CBC, it is still remarkable given the challenges we all faced.

Will be interesting to know the results of this year's count as more and more people are out and about.  How did we do on Shaw as we covered our 7 mile long island?

We saw 11 bald eagles (did not top our 2018 record of 15), a pair of marbled murrelets, a coopers hawk, which flew in front of our car, the annual returning green winged teal (down from 20 to 13) one of my favorite ducks, the ring necks (18), and for me the top passerine (denoting birds of a large order distinguished by feet that are adapted for perching, including all song birds), the varied thrush (pictured at left).  All in all a very fun day.