Christmas Bird Count 2020

Dec 19, 2020 by Stephanie

This morning we headed out in wintry Glen Providence Park for the Christmas Bird Count, our first monthly event since Covid-19. We limited attendance to eight masked and distanced people, each of whom has joined us on past bird counts. Starting out when it was 19 degrees(!), it was our coldest CBC yet. The birds were undaunted – we counted 29 species, the most of any since we started in 2011!

Some of our most exciting sightings were a pair of Red-tailed Hawks, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Pine Siskins, Winter Wren, Brown Creeper, and Snow Geese flying overhead. And there were crows harassing an unseen bird on the western hill, likely the Great Horned Owl we have been hearing! It was exhilarating to be out in the cold, in the beautiful snowy woods, with wonderful company.

Both at the beginning and end of the morning, we saw a gorgeous Red Fox in the wetlands at Broomall’s Lake Country Club.

It was the 121st year for the CBC – the world’s longest-running Citizen Science survey! Here is our official Christmas Bird Count list of 29 species for Saturday, December 19, 2020:

Snow Goose – 3
Canada Goose -79
Mourning Dove – 8
Turkey Vulture – 2
Cooper’s Hawk – 1
Red-tailed Hawk – 2
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 2
Downy Woodpecker – 3
Hairy Woodpecker – 2
Blue Jay – 2
American Crow – 5
Fish Crow – 1
Carolina Chickadee – 6
Tufted Titmouse – 7
Red-breasted Nuthatch – 1
White-breasted Nuthatch – 4
Brown Creeper – 1
Winter Wren – 1
Carolina Wren – 3
European Starling – 10
American Robin – 7
Pine Siskin – 9
American Goldfinch – 9
Dark-eyed Junco – 7
White-throated Sparrow – 17
Song Sparrow – 8
Red-winged Blackbird – 3
Northern Cardinal – 8

And to include those birds who weren’t cooperative enough to appear on the big day, here are the additional species we saw or heard in the glen during Christmas Bird Count Week (from the Wednesday before to the Tuesday after the Christmas Bird Count):

Mallard
Great Blue Heron
Great Horned Owl

Photos from this morning and Christmas Bird Count Week below…