Last modified: Thursday, December 11, 2008 11:27 AM EST
Counting the birds Chip Walker eagerly anticipates this season each year. No, not Christmas. It's the Christmas Bird Count in which he's participated for about two decades. He and the small group of local birders are not alone. Thousands of enthusiasts across the nation will set out with binoculars and spotting scopes to count birds in specific circular-shaped areas between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5 in what is considered to be the oldest wildlife survey in existence, having been initiated in 1900. There are 33 specific "circles" in Massachusetts, with groups assigned to each. Walker and Stony Brook's Director Doug Williams, are among the members of the Norfolk sanctuary's bird club which helps to provide coverage for the 15-mile diameter circle constituting the Millis count. "There's no overlap of circles," Williams said. "They get as many people as they can muster and cover as much of the area as they can." "Around here, it involves getting in a car and driving to all the nature areas," including ponds and streams, he said. "There's a lot of comaraderie and they're fun counts to do. Anybody can join." When the day is done, the counts are compiled and then used by wildlife agencies and other conservation organizations to assess the health of bird populations and to help guide conservation action. The holiday season count actually has its history in might what be an unseeming tradition given the idea behind the effort. "It's history goes back to when people would go out bird hunting" around the holiday, "to work off all that food they ate," Walker said. "It evolved to 'let's not kill the birds, let's go out and look at the beauty of them,' and then to the census," he said. "It's led to a beneficial data base built over the years which shows how certain species have fallen off, while others have grown." "There are people alive today who would not have seen a cardinal as a child," Walker cited as an example of changing populations. Cardinals are now a fairly common species here after adapting to the climate as they moved up the East Coast. In the case of the Carolina wren, which is now common in the state, "it was unheard of one or two generations ago." Of course, then there's the social aspect of the event. "Typically, the team of people is the same year after year, so it gives you an opportunity to catch up, driving around, sipping coffee," Walker said. "We meet at a coffee shop before dawn and then we head out just trying to listen to the birds because it's dark," said Walker, describing the start of the day's count. Screech and other owls can sometimes be heard at that time. "Then the sun comes up, the birds start to warm up and sing and looking for food." And then the count begins full force. The counters start yelling out species and their numbers with one person recording the information. "There will be someone who shouts, 'I spotted two chickadees over here' and someone else will shout out, "I see a flock of robins - there's about 25 of them." Typically, his small group records about 25 species, Walker said. Then, they can meet up with another group and it can grow into 50 species because that group has conducted a count in a different area with different habitat. "Our little group can get 7,000 birds," he said. "But that can be only several species," from the spectacular - Walker particularly likes cedar waxwings, which are common in the state, but beautiful - to pigeons. Yes, even the pigeons count, he said. Williams said the number of species and individual birds can vary based on the weather. Heavy rain or snow can wipe out a count since you can't see or hear the birds. The hard core part is the weather, "which can be atrocious," Walker acknowledged, and on a few occasions has led to a cancelation of the day. Over the last 10 to 15 years, however, Williams has observed through the counts that there seems to be more birds that don't go as far south or that species are coming from the west. If there is a storm and it's really cold north of the area, some species, like evening grosbeaks, will head here. "It's a concentrated effort in a short amount of time and it gives a good clue what's around here." Walker said some trends he considers disturbing is that many areas where people used to be able to find birds have been developed. And in areas along Interstate 495, birds can't be heard, even at 5 a.m., because of the noise from increasing traffic. The group also has a partnership in the area for those who prefer to count while warm and cozy in their homes by watching their bird feeders. Those counts, said Walker, are based on hourly observations with the highest number of each species spotted at one time during the day going down in the books. "If you see three chickadees at one time and then see 10 another, you can assume you have 10," he said. At day's end, the counts are brought to the Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary in Natick where the director there has been compiling the numbers for the area contained within the Millis circle for years and where there's a pot luck for all of the teams. This is the 37th year of the Millis count; 109th for the event as a whole. Whether inside or out, the bird count is "addictive," Walker said. "Every year I look forward to the next year to see what I will find." To join folks out in the field or conduct a count from your backyard feeder for the Christmas Bird Count, e-mail Broadmoorprograms@massaudubon.org and you will be put in contact with someone in the program. If you e-mail ahead of time for backyard feeder counts, a form will be sent. The count runs for 24 hours, but with New England weather being what it is, the day is shorter for the count, from early morning until about 4:30 p.m. People can also participate for a portion of the time. For more information about the effort in Massachusetts, go to the MassBird Web site at www.massbird.org for information regarding local counts and birding clubs in your area; or go to audubon.org/bird/cbc. |
