Counting Crows
22/12/22 16:00
Saturday, December 31, was the 2022 Christmas Bird Count in Clarke County, including Clermont Farm. Eight local people made up the team which spent about two hours walking east and west along Dog Run across the 360-acre farm. This was just one of many stops the team, led by Kristin Zaltimet, made during the day. The team included two Master Naturalists, Kristin and Mary-Keith Ruffner, and the team photographer, Walter Gould.
Many people don’t realize that the Christmas Bird Count is the oldest (123 years) and largest (North, Central, and South America) citizen science project in the world.
The Audubon Society is the central data broker for the whole project, but it is carried out by local citizens in different countries belonging to a variety of (or no) organizations. International treaties protecting migrating birds have been based on data from the Christmas Bird Counts.
The two rarest birds identified at Clermont were a Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus) and a Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus), both of which the team was very excited about. The Rusty Blackbird is distinguished by a rusty wash over its fall and winter plumage. It breeds in Canada and Alaska, and winters in the southeastern U.S. It likes wet woodlands, bogs and riparian habitats as the wooded Dog Run at Clermont
The white Tundra Swan is differentiated by a yellow to orange spot in front of its eye. It breeds on the artic tundra (solitary nests) and winters on the Pacific (primarily) and Atlantic coasts where it is rare in most areas. It is monogamous and pairs for life.
Clermont maintains four specially-built boxes for American Kestrels, who use them for breeding in the spring. Happily there was a Kestrel in the Christmas Count. We were surprised at the number of Eastern Bluebirds, sixteen, who flocked together and made quite a display.
There were twenty-one species identified overall, including Blue Jays, Cardinals, Crows, Cedar Waxwings, a lot of House Finches, Mockingbirds, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Red-Shouldered Hawks, Turkey Vulture, a variety of Sparrows, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and others.
Many people don’t realize that the Christmas Bird Count is the oldest (123 years) and largest (North, Central, and South America) citizen science project in the world.
The Audubon Society is the central data broker for the whole project, but it is carried out by local citizens in different countries belonging to a variety of (or no) organizations. International treaties protecting migrating birds have been based on data from the Christmas Bird Counts.
The two rarest birds identified at Clermont were a Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus) and a Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus), both of which the team was very excited about. The Rusty Blackbird is distinguished by a rusty wash over its fall and winter plumage. It breeds in Canada and Alaska, and winters in the southeastern U.S. It likes wet woodlands, bogs and riparian habitats as the wooded Dog Run at Clermont
The white Tundra Swan is differentiated by a yellow to orange spot in front of its eye. It breeds on the artic tundra (solitary nests) and winters on the Pacific (primarily) and Atlantic coasts where it is rare in most areas. It is monogamous and pairs for life.
Clermont maintains four specially-built boxes for American Kestrels, who use them for breeding in the spring. Happily there was a Kestrel in the Christmas Count. We were surprised at the number of Eastern Bluebirds, sixteen, who flocked together and made quite a display.
There were twenty-one species identified overall, including Blue Jays, Cardinals, Crows, Cedar Waxwings, a lot of House Finches, Mockingbirds, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Red-Shouldered Hawks, Turkey Vulture, a variety of Sparrows, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and others.