Christmas Bird Count 2015

Dec 24, 2015 by Stephanie

It was a chilly but beautiful Saturday morning when we participated in our fifth Christmas Bird Count (CBC) in Glen Providence Park! Our most exciting sighting was a beautiful white Red-tailed Hawk soaring overhead – this was likely due to leucism, a partial loss of pigmentation in animals. The hawk was a beautiful sight against the blue sky, though our view was through tree branches. The most numerous species we saw was winter visitor Dark-eyed Junco, often accompanied by White-throated Sparrows. In this unusually warm December, the invasive periwinkle (vinca) was in bloom. It was a peaceful and refreshing way to spend a Saturday morning in the midst of the holidays!

It was the 116th year for the CBC – the world’s longest-running Citizen Science survey! Our final count totaled 151 birds of 23 species. Here is our official Christmas Bird Count list for Saturday, December 19, 2015:

Canada Goose – 13
Mallard – 17
Turkey Vulture – 4
Red-tailed Hawk (leucistic) – 1
Mourning Dove – 4
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 4
Downy Woodpecker – 1
Hairy Woodpecker – 1
Northern Flicker – 1
Blue Jay – 4
American Crow – 8
Carolina Chickadee – 3
Tufted Titmouse – 15
White-breasted Nuthatch – 4
Carolina Wren – 1
American Robin – 5
European Starling – 8
Dark-eyed Junco – 22
White-throated Sparrow – 13
Song Sparrow – 3
Northern Cardinal – 6
Common Grackle – 1
House Finch – 12