Audubon's Christmas Bird Count
Pretty Bird Words
I tried birdwatching for the first time in December by joining Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count (CBC). Audubon, a 100-plus year-old organization dedicated to protecting all types of birds, launched the eBird in 2002, the app that collects data from the count. I read up on the CBC and learned it is the longest-running community science project there is for birds, so I had two thoughts:
“I’ve gotta go.” And, less tastefully: “I can kill two birds with one stone––Christmas fun and community science.”
I downloaded the free eBird app and arranged the outing by contacting the Roswell, Ga. chapter of the CBC. That done, I decided to warm up by paying better attention to the regular birds around me. For days, I kept stopping my desk work to search out the window for birds in the brown landscape of trees and bushes of our front yard. Where are those rascals? From what I could tell, this time of year seemed like the wrong time to have a big bird count. After a friend sent me an article from a few years ago titled, Winter birds add sparkle to Georgia’s winters, I told her I must be missing something. But I figured my upcoming CBC experience would illuminate me with all the attractive sparkly bits of this science project.
CBC day, Dec. 15, finally came. The sky was just gathering its light at 7 a.m. when I left home to meet Hortense and Horace, the two friendly birders who’d invited me to join them. The temperature was 35 degrees when I left home, and I lingered with my coffee for maybe an extra five minutes. By the time I met them in a park near the Chattahoochee River, they’d had a head start on the count.
“You just missed the Bald Eagle,” Hortense said. She smiled and tapped on her phone. “I mean, it just now flew by. Very rare. Unlikely we’ll see that again anytime soon!”
That just about summarizes how my day went. During my first-ever CBC, I did see and hear some birds, but they were either too distant, or too flitty, or too hidden in the bushes for me to identify anything. I never once had a reason to use Audubon’s eBird app. It turned out that, for me, this park landscape was just as lonesome for birds as my yard had been. But it was a different story for Hortense and Horace, birding pros with 30 or more years of experience each. As we took these careful, slow steps through the parklands, they found much to comment on, so I just relaxed and listened. Their recitation of bird words sounded downright poetic floating out into the quiet that surrounded us. So many pretty compound words these bird-people have!
“Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.”
“Ruby-crowned Kinglet.”
“Hermit Thrush.”
“Northern Cardinal.”
“Cedar Waxwing.”
“There. Flying. A vulture––turkey? No. It’s a Black Vulture.”
“Tufted Titmouse”
No offense, loons
Together, Hortense and Horace counted 54 different species during their 8 hours of the CBC. They identified them either by sight or sound. I had borrowed binoculars from Horace, yet I had trouble seeing anything. I was clumsy as a loon, fiddling with the dials and rings, sliding my eyeglasses up and down, and always trying to get a better angle. I didn’t say it out loud, but I was feeling hopeless until I paused to tune in once again to the lovely background drone of bird names.
“Fox Sparrow.”
“Blue Jay”
“Brown Thrasher.”
The next day, I told a birdwatching friend about my troubles. She nodded and said, “Once we took a friend from France out birding. After the day was over, he said he was sorry he didn’t see many birds, but happy about picking up two new English words: Too late.”
After the CBC, I could totally identify.
The CBC goes on for three weeks, and only ended Jan. 5 so full results are not in. However, we do know that the most unusual species our little three-person group in Sandy Springs saw this year was a Wilson’s Snipe. Of course, I personally didn’t see it, but later I read up on this pudgy little shore bird with a super-long bill that is two or three times the size of its head. When the Wilson’s Snipe forages in the mud for worms, its head goes up and down like the needle of a sewing machine, so I hope to witness that one day. Our crew was one of 13 Roswell, GA CBC circles tromping around in the fields on that damp December day. In the whole circle, the most rare species spotted was a Surf Scoter.
Three points for next time
After the CBC, I did a few things to make next time better.
1. I made a commitment to slow down when out in nature. Doing this two days ago, I spotted a beautiful Red-shouldered Hawk in my yard.
2. I purchased a monocular. The single viewing lens suits me because my vision is quite different in each eye because of some surgery I’ve had. Now, my adjustments are simplified, and the whole thing is light, fitting easily in one hand. Yesterday, a friend pointed out a Ruby-crested Kinglet, and I found it on the limb and could study it, magnified 10 times! From a distance, the Kinglet was, “ummm, little brown bird” but up close, it was a real looker with this fetching olive-green plumage and a bright white eye-ring. (Somebody is learning some bird words too!) One technical detail about this monocular: it has a large aperture of 42 which lets in lots of light. I’m hoping it will also work well for my upcoming Globe at Night projects.
3. I’m listening for and paying attention to the birds. In my whole life, birds and birdsong have been around me, and I haven’t been listening. Now, after the CBC, I’m more aware. Audubon’s next community science project is the Great Backyard Bird Count. I’ll be there!
Will I join the 2023 Christmas Bird Count? Of course! My hosts were welcoming, the online information helpful, and the outcome––me much more awakened to the beauty and world of birds––is all worth it! Plus, you know how everything’s connected? The CBC is a great segue into community science adventures.
Check out Audubon’s website. I’ll direct you to two special areas:
1. Here you can put in your zip code (you don’t need to add your email address even though it asks for it) to see which birds are at risk for extinction in your area.
2. See the data. Audubon reports that two-thirds of North American birds are at risk of extinction because of a rapidly changing climate.
Join Me!
Upcoming Atlanta area activities that I plan to attend. If you live around here, please join me!
Chattahoochee Riverkeeper Cleanup, free, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023
Winter Birding walk at Dunwoody Nature Center. $10, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023.
Audubon’s Great Backyard Bird Count on Feb. 17-20.