Winter is for the Birds

Auglaize Outdoors
12.23.09

Imagine a car full of people looking at your house through binoculars. This was
the scene played out recently when I had the privilege of participating in the
Grand Lake St. Marys Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC).

Each year for the past 110 years throughout the Americas, bird watchers flock to
specific areas to take a census of bird species and numbers.

Of the 41 counts in Ohio, two take place near Auglaize County. The bird
counting area, called a circle, is 15 miles in diameter, one centered on Indian
Lake and the other on Grand Lake St. Marys.

Weather is everything when bird watching and our count date, December 19,
coincided with the first heavy snow fall of the season. In addition to snow, early
cold temperatures caused Grand Lake to freeze up forcing geese, ducks, and
gulls to look elsewhere for open water.

Looking but not finding birds along park trails, Plan B on a snowy census day is
to drive up and down the lake suburbs looking for feeding stations. With natural
food buried under the snow, birdfeeders become the restaurant of choice.
Hawks and horned larks like the farm country and can be seen while driving
along the back roads.

A variety of birds congregated around one particular house where we found three
feeders: one near the tree in the front yard; another near the living room window
and a third suction cupped to the window. It is a wonder that no one called the
police as our team, stopped on the road, and four adults peered from the car
through binoculars at the house.

The CBC is an exercise in citizen science: where professional and amateur alike
join forces to collect data for the longest running wildlife census. The information
collected is used to determine the health of bird populations and guide
conservation action.

In 2007, the data was used to develop a report; Common Birds in Decline, listing
20 familiar birds have taken a nosedive over the past forty years. For Example
the bob white population is down 82%, meadowlark down 72%, and field sparrow
down 68%.

I worked with a team of 3 bird watchers who combined have 130 years of bird
watching experience. Doc Stephenson got his bird watching start when he
moved to the edge of Wapakoneta in 1979 and began looking at birds through an
old pair of binoculars.

Frank Kuhlman, originally from Wisconsin and now living at Otterbein, caught the
hobby from his parents at a young age and went on to get a degree in biology as
a result.

Jill Bowers of rural St. Marys, our driver and guide, got her start as a child on the
farm. She chased killdeer in the fields and peeped through the barn floor into
swallow nests.

By lunch our team had counted 21 species of birds including great blue heron,
Carolina chickadee, and kestrel. By 4:30pm we added 6 more species for a total
of 27. The grand total from all 13 birdwatchers in attendance at this count was
40 species. Find the results on the Tri-Moraine Audubon Club’s web site in
March- www.tri-moraineaudubon.org.

Get outdoors for your own winter adventure at The Lockkeeper’s Winter Canal
Walk, Saturday, January 9, Crown Pavilion, Plum Street in New Bremen, register
between 9-11am. This is a free family fitness opportunity and part of the Road to
Fitness program.

Allison Brady, Executive Director

Heritage Trails Park District
Your partner for parks in Auglaize County

Photo:
From L to R- Jill Bowers, Frank Kuhlman, and Doc Stephenson
(photos taken at Grand Lake St. Marys State Park)

Allison Brady, Executive Director

Heritage Trails Park District
PO Box 63
St. Marys, OH 45885
419.202.6053 cell
abrady@watchtv.net
Web site: htparks.org

The mission of the Heritage Trails Park District is to create and preserve park
land for the purpose of conservation, leisure and education for all to enjoy
and appreciate.