Essays

Moseying: Exploring the Natural World

December Holidays bring  Christmas bird counts
December 5, 2010

My parents were birdwatchers. By the time I was six, I was going on Christmas bird counts. Fifty years later, I have been on 137. In honor of  my father, who died at the  end of the three week count period in January 2000,  I offer this week's column, written by him in 1973,with a few additions in parentheses.  The count season starts in mid-December, and ends in early January.

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The universal motive that drives birdwatchers during Audubon Christmas Counts is the pleasure of finding a bird not normally seen in their count area.  An unusual bird may be one that is less than a hundred miles out of range or may be one that is normally restricted to the ocean and is found in the middle of nowhere, as an Oldsquaw duck did in the 1960s. (Found at a salt lake that looked like its native British Columbian coastal habitat on that snowy  windy  day, no other Oldsquaw has ever returned to West Texas.  It is now called the Long-tailed Duck, as the word squaw is pejorative.)    

In the Christmas Count issue of AMERICAN BIRDS (published by the National Audubon Society ) rare birds are always emphasized  by being printed in boldface type. They do not get accepted unless  accompanied by minute details, so  the editor will be willing to print the identification. 

The birder also derives much enjoyment by seeing a very ordinary bird perform, like a  shrike falling off the top of a telephone pole and at the last moment leveling off into a smooth glide.  Birders that I know always get a thrill out of seeing a hawk wheeling in the far sky and screaming, or seeing an eagle sail out of sight, or unexpectedly alarming a flock of turkeys that take off on a run.

The complex intricate group flight blackbirds or shorebirds, or  the graceful glide and occasional beat of Sandhill Cranes coming roost are always worth a second, third, and fourth look.  Those are some of the real reasons a birder will spend eight or more hours outside in all kinds of weather in the last days of December when saner people are huddled around a fire in a warm house.           

Birders, by nature and by requirement of their hobby, enjoy being outdoors.  It is doubtful that the 20 persons in 5 parties on a Grandfather Mountain Count, North Carolina really enjoyed counting in partial rain in the a.m. and in wind that gusted to 72 mph in the p.m.  However, they spent over half their time walking.

Possibly they liked to walk in the rain, but that does not sound like fun, nor does the thought of spending four hours on foot, three on a snowmobile and three in a car with temperature 0 to 18 degrees with a 20 mph wind and 6 inches of snow on the ground, as did a group of birders in Alberta.  And could anyone, even a birder at the Bay of Fundy, Maine, really enjoy riding a ferry for six hours on a cloudy day with the temperature ranging from 16 to 30 degrees, 60 mph winds on rough seas and freezing spray on the bow?  West Texas and New Mexico birders sometimes go out in sandstorms (or snowstorms) driven by cold winds.  Most of the time, though, the weather is clear, brisk and enjoyable.

Another reason for making Christmas Counts is the sport involved.  Competing against previous records made in the count area and seeing which count area will have the largest count or the largest number of any one species is universal. Birders always want their party to have an "exclusive" species of bird for any one count.

In a well-run count the participants are divided into small parties consisting of two or three persons, then each party is assigned a specific part of the count area.  This method produces the largest possible count and the best coverage, and sets the stage for the end of the day when the totaling occurs. Countdown parties can be exciting (for birders.)

The love of getting out and exploring is another reason for Christmas bird counting. Counters  across America have used skis, canoes, snowmobiles, kayaks, horses, ferries, airplanes, bicycles, trucks, adult tricycles, jeeps, marsh buggies, golf carts,  and boats, for transportation in making the counts.  More hours are  spent on foot, but more miles are covered by car.  (In 1971  my parents and I drove 1,500+ miles in a pickup to make 12 counts.)