Christmas Bird Count

Seventy-three years and still counting, Oxford’s annual Christmas Bird Count took place on Saturday, December 17, 2011.  This was National Audubon’s 112^thChristmas Bird Count. The Audubon Christmas Bird Counts were started in 1900 as an alternative to killing birds.  National Audubon’s annual Christmas Bird Count has served our country quite well, because there are now millions of American birdwatchers today, by far outnumbering the bird hunters. The local Oxford Christmas Count was initiated by Dr. Robert Hefner in 1937 when there was no Acton Lake, and has gradually increased in numbers of species reported since Acton Lake was fashioned from Four Mile Creek in the 1950s.  The highest number of species recorded so far (74) was in 1974, when Town Peterson organized that year’s Christmas Bird Count (CBC). That was one of five counts above 70 species, the last of them being 71 species in 1987 when Bill Pratt was compiling our local CBC.More than 32 local birders counted 67 different species of birds during this years count. The weather was somewhat mild as compared to other years with temperatures ranging from 34f to 39f degrees on a mostly clear day when teams went into the field around 7:30 AM. The total individual birds tallied was the highest ever, 13,693, far above our average of 6784, and nearly 1000 birds above our previous record of 12,680 in 2009. The top five species included 8720 European Starlings (top as usual!), followed by 1639 American Robins. Third highest was 391 House Sparrows.  Fourth highest was 248 Mourning Doves, and fifth place was 232 American Crows. Duck populations in general remain in steady decline since Acton Lake was opened to duck hunting.Most all the ‘usual suspects’ were present this year and nothing unusual stood out in this years’ count. Other species observed in our count included 292 Canada Geese, 1 Mute Swan, 153 Mallard Ducks, 2 Northern Shoveler Ducks, 1 Green Winged Teal Duck, 3 Redheads, 3 Hooded Mergansers, 8 Ring-necked Pheasants, 24 Wild Turkey, 5 Pied-billed Grebes, 28 Great Blue Herons, 27 Black Vultures, 17 Turkey Vultures, 1 Northern Harrier, 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk, 3 Cooper’s Hawks, 3 Red-shouldered Hawks, 38 Red-tailed Hawks, 25 American Kestrels, 31 American Coots, 2 Sandhill Cranes, 8 Killdeer, 57 Ring-billed Gulls, 144 Rock Pigeons, 248 Mourning Doves, 1 Great Horned Owl, 3 Barred Owls, 10 Belted Kingfishers, 52 Red-bellied Woodpeckers, 1 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, 52 Downy Woodpeckers, 9 Hairy Woodpeckers, 17 Northern Flickers, 29 Pileated Woodpeckers, 105 Blue Jays, 232 American Crows, 13 Horned Larks, 213 Carolina Chickadees, 194 Tufted Titmice, 73 White-breasted Nuthatches, 5 Brown Creepers, 36 Carolina Wrens, 6 Golden-crowned Kinglets, 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 48 Eastern Bluebirds, 5 Hermit Thrush, 1639 American Robins, 5 Northern Mockingbird, 8720 European Starlings, 17 Cedar Waxwings, 1 Yellow-rumped warbler, 3 Eastern Towhees, 60 American Tree Sparrows, 6 Field Sparrow, 4 Fox Sparrow, 55 Song Sparrows, 79 White-throated Sparrows, 3 White-crowned Sparrows, 125 Dark-eyed Juncos, 163 Northern Cardinals (our State Bird), 6 Red-winged Blackbirds, 19 Common Grackles,6 Purple Finches, 89 House Finches, 167 American Goldfinches, and 391 House Sparrows.Over 28 veterans and 4 first-time birders (David Burcham, Bob George, Steve Kolbe and Mickey Simonds) participated in this annual Oxford Christmas Bird Count. The veterans included: Paul Anderson, Margarette Beckwith, Alan and Andrew Cady, Janelle Duncan, Sharon Edwards, Barb & Hardy Eshbaugh, Larry Gersbach, John Habig, Bill Heck, Anne Hooke, Bob and Jan Holmes, Jack Keegan, Bruce Magurn, Jim and Sarah Michael, Dave Osborne, Neil and daughter Laura Poppendeck, Jim Reid, Gail Reynolds, Dave Russell, Larry and Leslye Sherman, Todd Stephens and Bill Wilson. A special note of thanks goes to Dave Russell who once again assisted Larry Sherman. Feeder watchers this year included Barbara Diehl, Kay Griffith, Pat Kaufman and Bob Rauen.  Mike Minium provided detailed maps that assisted us in covering our 15-mile diameter circle (7.5 mile radius from the intersection of the bridge over Four Mile Creek and Ohio State Route 73). Dave Russell also took the initiative to get new GPS derived maps of our circle.Totals were recorded at noon back at Miami University’s Ecology Research Center while sharing a hot “potluck” lunch. Many thanks go to Liz Woedl for organizing the food. Count organizer, Larry Sherman, organized and compiled the results. To see Christmas Count results for 1938 until 2011 click here. To see just the last 22 years or so click here.

Data will be submitted via the Internet to National Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count Center. People interested in seeing the total results for North America are invited to go to their web site: http://www.audubon.org/Bird/cbc/index.html.

To see more pictures from the event visit our Audubon Miami Valley Facebook page.