On a frigid January 1, 13 volunteers over the course of the day, equipped with binoculars and tally sheets, gathered at Buddy Attick Park, Lake Artemesia, Greenbelt Homes, Inc. and Greenbelt Park to participate in this year’s Christmas Bird Count. They worked until sunset and afterward converged at TJ Elliot’s in Bowie for the tally dinner to ascertain their final count.
The focus of the count is to ascertain “where birds reside in the winter, which for many species is a very different place than where they spend the summer,” said John Stith, who acted as the coordinator for the Greenbelt area this year for the first time. He is a board member of the Prince George’s Audubon Society (PGAS) which is one of the organizers for this count. He cited the example of the chimney swift, which nests here in summer and spends the winter in South America. Of special interest to this count are the 17 duck species that have a presence at Greenbelt Lake each year. Factors such as weather patterns and ice conditions will determine which species will be observed. Said Stith, “we get to see one piece of the puzzle,” adding the information gathered “to study the health of birds and ecosystems.”
Read more about the Christmas bird count in the January 4 News Review
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