Weather a factor in low Christmas Bird Count

Crazy hikers and skiers braving sleet and 40 mph winds, cars poking through neighborhoods with passengers staring intently out windows and neighbors monitoring bird feeders, all with binoculars in easy reach. What are all these people doing? If it was Dec. 18, these curious people were likely participating in the 112th annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count.

The count is an activity for anyone with an interest in birds to help the cause of bird study and conservation through citizen science. The data is compiled by the National Audubon Society and used to study the movements of birds and monitor the health of bird populations. Over the years the influences of weather, number of counters and access to areas are averaged out to provide a good representation of the birds’ wintering range. Check out the Audubon website at birds.audubon.org/christmas-bird-count for much more information on how this data helps the cause of bird conservation.

For the past 32 years, the Mat-Su Valley has contributed to the national, and now international, count. The official 15-mile diameter circle is centered on Four Corners, Palmer-Wasilla Highway and Trunk Road. The varied terrain includes downtown Palmer and Wasilla, many neighborhoods, lakes, creeks, parts of the Matanuska River and Palmer Hay Flats and the borough landfill.

All of these habitats have potential for wintering birds, often a surprising variety.

Due to the inclement weather on count day this year, the overall numbers of both species and total birds were low compared to past counts. This did not deter the 36 intrepid birders, who covered as much of the count circle as possible by car, foot, skis and ATV; plus an additional 17 counters who watched backyard feeders in the count area. The field team, or feeder counter, records each bird spotted by species. Fast moving birds and very large flocks can be a counting challenge, but overall the counts are fairly accurate.

The total of 24 species found was far from the record of 35, and included all those you expect to see in the winter in the Valley: Common Raven, Black-capped Chickadee, Black-billed Magpie, Mallard, Common Redpoll, Pine Grosbeak and Bald Eagle. Some of the surprises were two Northern Goshawks and a record high number of Snow Buntings on the Hay Flats.

The cold weather earlier in the winter had frozen much of the water that is occasionally open in December, so the counts of ducks and American Dippers were down. The high winds kept the regular huge flocks of Bohemian Waxwings from moving around. The cold and snow probably also contributed to the relatively few Bald Eagles at the dump.

Two very special species were spotted during the count week, the three days to either side of the count day. A Boreal Owl found in the Butte area was a first for this winter count, although it is a regular summer resident. The Gray-crowned Rosy-finch visiting a feeder, also in the Butte, was a first for the count, and a very unusual species even in the summer. This same feeder had for the last three years hosted a Song Sparrow, another rare winter resident. A Gyrfalcon was spotted near Cottonwood Lake, no doubt looking for the Mallards it has been hunting. This year some of the species usually found regularly were only seen once in the week, such as Spruce Grouse, Gray Jay and Northern Shrike.

Two species that are not native to North America have been in Alaska for many years — the Rock Pigeon and European Starling — and were again found in this year’s count. Both were introduced on the East Coast with the well-intended desire to transplant all the birds found in the writings of Shakespeare, and they have now very successfully populated the entire continent. Without natural predators they are considered invasive, taking over habitat from native birds.

If all this craziness sounds like a fun pastime, watch next December for information about the 2012 Audubon Christmas Bird Count. More help is always needed, and you may learn something about these hardy winter residents.

Nancy Wade is member of the Mat-Su Birders and Alaska WildBird Rehabilitation Center. Send birding questions for her column on birding to alaskaflamingo@yahoo.com.