Christmas Bird Count Report

National Archives at College Park - Still Pictures,
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Well, the Wichita Falls CBC did not happen on the 14th. Due to some team members falling ill to a respiratory illness going around, we delayed the count for a week.

As I stated in my last post, we break our circle into three sections, with a different team for each one, and then consolidate our results with the other teams at the end of the day.

Frank was on my team. We started at the Lake Wichita Spillway a little before 7:30 AM. It was a chilly, but beautiful, morning. I was hoping we would get the rock wrens each of us had seen in the past couple of weeks, but of course, on count day, they were absent. We did see a small flock of American pipits, which was a new bird for Frank. When we got to the chat trail in Lake Wichita Park, we enjoyed a large number of cedar waxwings at the beginning of the trail. They were apparently attracted by the pool of water in the drainage ditch, as they were taking turns bathing.

Frank and I covered our section fairly thoroughly, driving 61.8 miles and walking another 5.4 miles on the day. The other two teams mostly drove. At the count dinner, eating delicious Luigi's pizza and nibbling yummy petit fours, we compiled our lists. Overall, it was not a great day in terms of numbers of species or individuals. The numbers of individuals have been in decline for years. I believe the only bird that we counted over 1,000 individuals was the European starling, and that is not a native to the U.S.

Overall, a fun day, but disappointing in terms of the numbers and types of birds. A consolidated list of birds seen by the three teams included (in order of the Audubon checklist): cackling goose, Canada goose, black-bellied whistling duck, gadwall, mallard, northern shoveler, northern pintail, canvasback, ring-necked duck, bufflehead, ruddy duck, wild turkey, pied-billed grebe, double-crested cormorant, American white pelican, great blue heron, turkey vulture, black vulture, northern harrier, sharp-shinned hawk, Cooper's hawk, bald eagle, red-tailed hawk, American coot, Killdeer, greater yellowlegs, ring-billed gull, rock pigeon, Eurasian collared dove, white-winged dove, great horned owl, red-bellied woodpecker, downy woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, northern flicker, American kestrel, loggerhead shrike, blue jay, American crow, Carolina chickadee, tufted titmouse, black-crested titmouse, eastern bluebird, American robin, brown thrasher, northern mocking bird, European starling, American pipet, cedar waxwing, common yellowthroat, lark sparrow, fox sparrow, dark-eyed junco, white-crowned sparrow, Harris's sparrow, white-throated sparrow, song sparrow, spotted towhee, northern cardinal, red-winged blackbird, meadowlark, Brewer's blackbird, common grackle, great-tailed grackle, house finch, American goldfinch, and house sparrow.

Good birding!

Christmas Bird Count

National Archives at College Park - Still Pictures,
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC) for the Wichita Falls area is scheduled for December 14. We have a 25-mile circle to complete. We generally break up the circle into 3 sections, each with its own team to count every bird we can find. The team lists are then consolidated and submitted to the Audubon Society. 

The CBC is the longest running citizen science project in the U.S., starting in 1900. On Christmas day of that year, 27 people started the count, in various locations across the country, counting 90 different species. It is now conducted in 20 countries in the western hemisphere.

If I remember correctly, our CBC has be held since 1954.

I'll be starting at 7:00 AM and bird pretty much all day. It is a combination of driving and walking. The other two teams have their own schedule, but are similar to mine. People can also count at their feeders. The data compiler needs to know who is taking part in order to make arrangements to get the data to add to the report. If the weather is so bad that we are unlikely to find many birds or it is unsafe to drive, the count will be rescheduled to the following weekend.

If you would like to take part in this year's CBC, whether for an hour or an entire day, contact me at txbirds@gmail.com.

Christmas Bird Count

I am catching up on happenings. It is hard enough to find time to bird over the holidays, let alone follow-up writing about it. But I did want to catch up.

The Wichita Falls Christmas Bird Count  (CBC) was December 17, sponsored by the North Texas Bird and Wildlife Club. The weather was absolutely beautiful on December 16. Not so much on count day. I was naively thinking the cold front might not come through until afternoon, but the temperatures started dropping early in the morning. That would have been okay, except for the wind, which makes the weather seem so much colder and keeps the birds down. Consequently, the count was lower than usual, both in number of species and numbers of individual birds. We worked hard for these birds.

I started the count on the Lake Wichita dam, where it is always windy and can be downright miserable when it is cold. I was joined by Fred Koberg, from Graham, joining me for his first CBC. We birded from 7:30 AM to around 3:00 PM in our area. We walked about 5.3 miles and drove 82 miles. We later met the other teams for the count supper at Sue and Warren King's home.

My favorite birds of the day were the Wilson's snipe, prairie falcon, and white-throated sparrow.

I am including only the birds seen by me and Fred in our area, which is the southwest section of the circle. Debra Halter is the official compiler for our count and submitted final totals for the count after the count week.

Canada goose, 88
Gadwall, 76
American wigeon, 6
Mallard, 67
Northern shoveler, 53
Ring-necked duck, 29
Bufflehead, 1
Duck sp, 54
Pied-billed grebe, 5
American white pelican, 77
Double-crested cormorant, 100
Great blue heron, 5
Turkey vulture, 1
Northern harrier, 2
Sharp-shinned hawk, 1
Cooper's hawk, 1
Red-tailed hawk, 5
Buteo sp, 3
American kestrel, 8
Prairie falcon, 1
American coot, 41
Killdeer, 10
Wilson's snipe, 4
Ring-billed gull, 144
Rock pigeon, 21
Eurasian collared dove, 70
White-winged dove, 6
Mourning dove, 4
Belted kingfisher, 3
Red-bellied woodpecker, 1
Ladder-backed woodpecker, 2
Downy wooodpecker, 2
Northern (yellow-shafted) flicker, 1
Eastern phoebe, 4
Loggerhead shrike, 1
Blue jay, 4
American crow, 1
Tufted titmouse, 1
Ruby-crowned kinglet, 3
Eastern bluebird, 1
American robin, 3
Northern mockingbird, 5
Brown thrasher, 1
European starling, 287
Orange-crowned warbler, 1
Spotted towhee, 1
Fox sparrow, 1
Song sparrow, 2
White-throated sparrow, 1
Harris' sparrow, 6
White-crowned sparrow, 18
Sparrow sp, 13
Dark-eyed junco, 5
Northern cardinal, 32
Red-winged balckbird, 218
Meadowlark sp, 23
Common grackle, 4
Great-tailed grackle, 108
Blackbird sp, 230
American goldfinch, 10
House sparrow, 1

Although this wasn't one of the better counts in terms of numbers or weather, it was a great time. After all, I could have been cleaning house.....

Good birding!

Christmas Bird Count Coming Up

The North Texas Bird and Wildlife Club will be hosting the annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC) on Saturday, December 17. As usual, we will be dividing the count circle up into thirds to ensure good coverage. Team leaders are Terry McKee (Wichita Falls proper), Me (Lake Wichita/Holliday), and Warren King (Iowa Park area).

The CBC is the longest running citizen science project in the U.S. The first was held on Christmas Day, 1900. You can read more about the history of the CBC and the many interesting things we have learned at the Audubon Society's website.

You are invited to join any of the teams for part or all of the count. Most of the teams start around first light (7:30ish) and finish up around 3 or 4. We meet up in the evening for the count supper--a potluck, after which the team compiler, Debra Halter, takes the information from all of the teams to prepare the final report on the count.

All of the counts teams will spend some time walking and some driving, with some stationary watching at better locations. People may also watch at their feeders, if in the count circle, and send their information to the compiler.

My section of the count usually is about 4 - 5 miles walking and a fair amount of driving. All of the terrain is fairly flat. If you are interested in participating in any part of the count, contact me (txbirds@gmail.com/940-867-9761) or Terry (dgm59@aol.com). I haven't talked to Warren to get his permission to share his email or phone, but Terry or I will be happy to connect you with him, if you would like to participate in that area.

If my math is right, this is the 43rd year the North Texas Bird and Wildlife Club has been conducting the count in our area--it has been a while. Feel free to take part in the count.

Good Birding!

A Tiny Surprise at Lake Wichita This Morning

A cool morning at Lake Wichita Park today. I was watching the ducks on the tank and saw a little bird zip by me. My first thought was, "swallow;" my second, "not possible." Fortunately for me, the little guy stayed in my area, circling over and around me for several minutes. It was definitely a lone barn swallow. According to the North Texas Bird and Wildlife Club checklist, barn swallows are common through the end of October. No sitings are listed for November (but I have an older checklist.) I hope the little guy was finding some bugs--there weren't many moving at ground level.

I also saw my first buffleheads of the winter. Such an ugly name for such beautiful ducks.

Also seen this morning at Lake Wichita: American Coot, Spotted Towhee, Cardinal, American Goldfinch, Mockingbird, House Finch, American Widgeon, Canvasback, Ruddy Duck, Pied-billed Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, White Pelican, Ring-billed Gull, Great-blue Heron, Red-winged Blackbird, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Yellow-rumped warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Phoebe, Mallard, and Killdeer.

I also continued to scout my CBC route. Not repeating sitings I had at Lake Wichita, I stopped in Rosemont Cemetery and saw a large flock of Blue Jays and three Wild Turkeys. I also went to the spillway and saw several Green-winged Teal, a Kestrel, meadowlarks, and a small flock of peeps (that's little shorebirds that you can't identify.)

Overall, a good morning.

Good birding!

Historical Bird Counts

I received a email from Terry McKee concerning old CBC reports mentioned on OKBIRDS list, mentioning Texas wrens and White-rumped shrikes. So I did a little research. It would appear the Texas wren is the Bewick's wren and the white-rumped shrike a subspecies of the Loggerhead shrike. It can be confusing when names change over time. But no worse than the lumping a splitting of species that happens every year.

Good birding!