|
|
|
Photos Kaimi Rose Lum
A red-tailed hawk waits to be counted. |
|
Ducks enjoy the tranquility at Great Island. |
|
Christmas Bird Count brings surprises
By Kaimi Rose Lum
BANNER STAFF
TRURO — Birders participating in the Christmas Bird Count received some excellent presents this year. Colorful Bohemian waxwings, striking red crossbills and a nice sampling of owls were among the sightings they made on their rounds in Truro and Wellfleet last Thursday, Dec. 27.
“We had some wonderful birds,” said Ginie Page, vice president of the Cape Cod Bird Club and a Wellfleet resident who has helped out with the annual Audubon-sponsored bird tally each year for the past 10 years. The Bohemian waxwings, irregular winter visitors with black masks, tufted heads and splashes of red and gold on their bodies, were seen along the Herring River. The owls counted included saw-whet, screech, bard and snowy owls and were enjoyed, as stocking stuffers are enjoyed, only by those who rose in the dark hours of the early morning and went out to find them.
Altogether, up to 113 species were counted in the “Truro circle,” which encompasses all of the birdable territory between East Harbor-Pilgrim Lake in North Truro and Marconi Beach in Wellfleet. Every year this Outer Cape circle is divided into six sectors, each of which is covered by a small group of experienced birders whose task is “to do all the birding they possibly can” in one day.
“You do poke around a bit, and you work with people in advance if you want to look at their birdfeeders,” Page explained.
Many hawks were sighted on the bay side, including a Harrier’s hawk and some Cooper’s and red-tailed hawks. On the windier ocean side, raptors were harder to come by and even the turkey vultures were keeping a low profile, but observers were rewarded with a slew of gannets, alcids and plenty of winter gulls.
All in all, Page said, “It was a wonderful day” — although the weather was not the best. “Oh my goodness did the sand fly!” Nevertheless the intrepid birders stayed out as late as 8 p.m. in Thursday’s cold, wet and blustery conditions to jot down as many species as they could.
The Christmas Bird Count is a national tradition that dates back to the early days of the Audubon Society, when conservationists thought it would be a nice idea to exchange the holiday ritual of shooting as many feathered creatures as possible (called the Christmas “side hunt”) for the more humane ritual of counting as many as possible. Tens of thousands of observers across the country now take part in the census each year. _Its main objective is to monitor the status and distribution of bird populations across the Western Hemisphere. __The count period is from Dec. 14 to Jan. 5.
On the Cape, the bird count is split up into four areas: the Buzzards Bay count; the mid-Cape count, covering Sandwich, Barnstable, Yarmouth and Dennis; the Cape Cod count, covering Harwich, Brewster, Chatham, Orleans and Eastham; and the Truro count. The Cape Cod count was completed on Dec. 23.
The official tally of the Truro and Wellfleet birds will be compiled over the next week.
klum@provincetownbanner.com
|
Alpaca farmer tends her flock of fine woolly friends
Room tax revenues rise for first two quarters
Outer Cape Worship Services
|
|
|
|
|
Jan 3rd, 2008