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Christmas Bird Count

The Christmas Bird Count is an annual event that has its origins in 1900 when a group of people went out to count birds instead of shooting them, as was the tradition. The movement grew to the point where there are presently more than 35,000 participants throughout North America, who brave the winter elements to count birds and bird species. Over the past 108 years, statistics about bird species and their relative numbers has allowed natural scientists for follow the rise and fall of bird populations. This can give ecologists a clue as to what is happening in our environment, good and bad. This year St. David's Episcopal Church fielded a team which took a section of San Juan Island to count.

Saint David's Bird Brains gathered near Roche Harbor Reservoir for a team photo. The temperature was near freezing and a new layer of snow coated the ground. Notice the smiles of expectation on the faces. However, as we encountered frozen ponds, the count was rather dismal compared to previous years. Smiling faces turned into frowns as we trekked for miles (well, at least a mile) without seeing or hearing much in the way of avian activity. From left to right: Rev. Doug, Cynthia, Steve, Nan, Janet, Rev. Nancy, Bill and Richard.

Cynthia shouts, "It's a bird ! Or, is it a plane? No, an "LBJ ?" That birder code for "Little Brown Job." Out come the field guides. Oh, it's a "Justa Bird", i.e. just a Robin high in that tree.

Janet, the team recorder, says, "Now, how many robins are in that tree?" Doug shouts, "Ten !". Nan says "Fifteen!" Bill calls out "I count eighteen!" Janet replies, "(expletive deleted)." She grits her teeth and ponders how she gets stuck with this job year after year.

Finally, some avian wildlife !! A small area of open water at Lakedale ponds yield 21 Trumpeter swans and a number of Wideon and Ring-necked ducks. Also a couple of American Coots and two Pied-billed Grebe. We all feel a little better and forget about the miserable cold...at least for a few moments.

Reward at last ! Lunch ! Hot soup and bread dripping in butter. And coffee, hot piping coffee !! This is the way to conduct a bird count...sitting in a warm kitchen, stuffing oneself with goodies and counting birds at the outdoor feeder through a double-paned window. At this point the birders gave up, but one intrepid soul went out again for a couple of hours of birding before dusk set in. His back is toward you. Guess who.

Here are the results of our team count: 25 Trumpeter Swans, 8 Mallards, 28 American Wideon, 29 Ring-necked ducks, 5 Bufflehead ducks, 1 Hooded Merganser, 2 Pied-billed Grebe, 2 mature Bald Eagles, 2 Red-tailed Hawks, 5 American Coot, 1 Downy Woodpecker, 3 Northern Flicker, 1 Piliated Woodpecker, 26 Crows, 4 Common Raven, 10 Chestnut-backed Chickadees, 2 Winter Wrens, 2 Bewick's Wren, 74 American Robins, 35 European Starlings, 4 Spotted Towhees, 18 Dark-eyed Junco, 12 red-winged blackbirds, and 5 Brewer's Blackbirds. No rare birds, except those of us who went out in this weather to count.

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