Audubon Christmas Bird Count 2011-2012

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Audubon Christmas Bird Count 2011-2012

I saw this rainbow bee-eater in Australia, and in my dreams at naptime, but not during the X-mas bird count this year.

This year marks the 112th Audubon Christmas bird count. It was begun in 1900 by my hero Frank M. Chapman to replace the Christmas bird hunt, wherein teams of well-heeled sharpshooters went out on Christmas day to see who could destroy the most birds, which they did in the millions. Even then declining populations of birds had conservationists (if not conservatives) concerned. The bird count caught on, and the deadly version of the hunt ended.

Last year, according to the Audubon Society count summary, "All counts combined tallied 61,359,451 birds; 57,542,123 in the United States, 3,355,759 in Canada, and 461,569 in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Pacific Islands species totals were impressive as well. In the United States during the 111th count, the total tally was 646 species, plus an additional 45 field-identifiable forms." These numbers can be used to spot trends, find trouble spots, and highlight good news. The counts aren't meant to be comprehensive, but provide comparative numbers for analysis.

In Farmington, Trevor Persons, a herpetologist by day, is kind enough to organize the count each year. And each year, when I get the email from him, I wonder if I really want to get up for a 7 a.m. meeting at the McDonald's in town. (My first year was the first time I'd ever set foot in the place–it's nice, with clean bathrooms, and food, apparently, mostly made of corn.) But once the blood gets flowing, and once you're in the woods, the count is really quite fun. Trevor divides the volunteers into teams of two, except Bob Kimber, Drew Barton and I, who insist on being inefficient and going out together, the three binoculateers, for a day of conversation, farting, and exploration. And of course counting. Drew was late this year and had to meet us at Titcomb Mountain ski area, so I got to be the secretary, frequently losing Bob's pen, but feeling like a big deal nevertheless, like the kid who gets to beat the erasers in first grade (never I).

December 17, 2011: It's fucking cold and damp as dawn breaks. The birds are smart and wait for the sun, which appears with Drew about 9:30. We humans drive from likely location to likely location, finding what they find and keeping tallies to report to Trevor, who reports in turn to Audubon. Bob and Drew and I spotted the following, not our best year, but not our worst, either. We quit at about 1:00 due to advancing age and the imminence of naptime, so I added my backyard birds to the count. One depressing note: pine siskins, once plentiful around here in winter, have not been seen for some years. I'm a big siskin fan. My personal favorite this year was Red Breasted Nuthatch, for its color in a wan world. Perennial favorite is golden-crowned kinglet. Didn't count many woodpeckers or jays, surprisingly, and no sparrows at all, nor waxwings, nor raptors, nor cardinals, nor rarer types, and no surprises (team Trevor saw a snipe last year) but that doesn't mean these birds weren't out there somewhere, and doesn't mean they weren't out there in great numbers. Though then again it might mean that. In an update, I'll add the rest of the Farmington figures, the Maine figures, and the national and international figures. But for now:

Bob and Bill and Drew's team count (capitalized per convention):

8 Ruffed Grouse

71 Rock Dove

11 Mourning Dove

1 Hairy Woodpecker

1 Downy Woodpecker

1 Pileated Woodpecker

16 Blue Jay

28 American Crow

1 Un-American Crow (according to Newt Gingrich)

3 Red-Breasted Nuthatch

16 White-Breasted Nuthatch