Christmas Bird Count

Spring 2008 Newsletter

Christmas Bird Count A Success!

The National Audubon Society’s premier annual event, the 108^th Christmas Bird Count, was held throughout the weeks of December 14, 2007 to January 5, 2008. Our local chapter, the Valley Forge Audubon Society (VFAS), held their count on Saturday, December 22, 2007. Sixty-eight volunteers conducted the count over a 15-mile wide circle, with the town of Audubon at its center. The circle is subdivided into 11 sections, with the Farm Park occupying a large portion of Section 6. Participating at the Farm Park were volunteers Stephen Kacis, Dennis and Anna Bert, Steve Saunders and myself, Veronica Gellati. The weather was good and the counting at the park was a resounding success!

Not only did the volunteers at the Farm Park tally the highest number of species counted of all 11 sections, but they also counted a Wilson’s Snipe, a bird that has been seen only once before during the VFAS Christmas Bird Count. Starting the count at 4:30 AM, I managed to count the first bird of the day, an Eastern Screech Owl. By 7:00 AM, all the volunteers had assembled at the Milk Barn parking lot and after a brief discussion, we were off to explore the Farm Park in our search for birds, hiking through woods and fields. The final count for section 6 was 51 identified species, 47 of which were counted at the Farm Park. The other 4 species were counted on the Schuylkill River in Norristown, which is included in the section. Those 4 species were Common and Hooded Merganser, Domestic Duck and Mute Swan. The total number of birds counted in the section was 2,526. The final count is listed in the Table below.

The high number and variety of birds counted at the Farm Park serves to highlight the continuing need for habitat preservation that is crucial for the survival of some of our most common species. Birds that have become rare in our area, like the Wilson’s Snipe, have very little habitat left. Without the Farm Park, many of the birds we admire and enjoy will disappear from our area altogether.

Veronica Gellati

Vice President

SPECIES	NUMBER	SPECIES	NUMBER
Great Blue Heron	3	American Crow	38
Black Vulture	1	Carolina Chickadee	22
Turkey Vulture	8	Black Cap Chickadee	1
Canada Goose	923	Tufted Titmouse	29
Mute Swan	1	White Breasted Nuthatch	16
Mallard	55	Brown Creeper	1
Ring Necked Duck	16	Carolina Wren	35
Hooded Merganser	2	Golden Crown Kinglet	6
Common Merganser	6	Ruby Crown Kinglet	1
Cooper’s Hawk	1	Eastern Bluebird	31
Red Tailed Hawk	5	American Robin	111
American Coot	1	Northern Mockingbird	9
Wilson’s Snipe	1	European Starling	49
Ring Billed Gull	329	Northern Shoveler	9
Herring Gull	3	American Tree Sparrow	2
Rock Pigeon	75	Field Sparrow	2
Mourning Dove	105	Song Sparrow	51
Eastern Screech Owl	1	White Throated Sparrow	175
Belted Kingfisher	1	Dark Eyed Junco	34
Red Bellied Woodpecker	18	Northern Cardinal	45
Yellow Bellied Sapsucker	1	Red Winged Blackbird	1
Downy Woodpecker	22	Common Grackle	12
Hairy Woodpecker	2	Brown Headed Cowbird	6
Northern Flicker	9	House Finch	129
Blue Jay	32	American Goldfinch	46
Hawk Species (unident.)	1	House Sparrow	9
Chickadee Species (unident.)	29	Duck Species (unident.)	5

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