Another Christmas Bird Count in the Books

In the cold wee hours of the morning on December 20th, about 60 bird enthusiasts gathered together for a chance to participate in the annual Northern Shenandoah Valley Christmas Bird Count. Volunteers recorded the sightings of over 80 species of birds in the full count circle of the regional count, spanning a 15-mile diameter that includes Blandy Experimental Farm. 

Dave Carr, Blandy Director & Research Professor, heads up Area-5 of the Northern Shenandoah Valley region, the part of the local count circle that includes Blandy. He and five volunteers documented birds for more than 12 hours both on foot and by car. The Blandy group totaled 60 species sightings for the day. The most exciting birds included a Wilson’s Snipe, Eastern Screech-owls, a Great Horned Owl, a Barred Owl, a Short-eared Owl, Red-breasted Nuthatch, and American Tree Sparrows. All but the snipe, Barred Owl, and Short-eared Owl were seen right here at Blandy. "We also saw 23 Bald Eagles on the day, 17 more than the previous high for this count," said Dave.

Launched on Christmas Day in 1900 by Frank Chapman and 26 other conservationists, the Christmas Bird Count was originally introduced to promote counting, rather than hunting, birds on Christmas Day. The Christmas Bird Count has expanded to more than 20 countries in the western hemisphere and now takes place annually between December 14th and January 5th providing a wealth of data on bird populations and their health over long periods of time. Check out the data from past counts and learn more at Audubon Society, the Christmas Bird Count .