DUBOIS – The DuBois Audubon Christmas Bird Count will be held during the 24-hour period on Saturday, Dec. 14, from midnight to midnight. There is also optional birding at night since owls also need to be found.
New counters are always welcome, whether at a bird feeder or in the field. Please indicate by phone as soon as possible at 814-583-7926 if you are interested in participating.
Whether you are an experienced or beginning birder watcher, you may be able to join others in the field that include at least one experienced birder.
Maps and recording forms are available. Co-compilers are Marianne Atkinson and Dr. Jocelynn Smrekar, who will assign birding areas in the field.
The 15-mile diameter count circle has DuBois as its center. The circle goes northwest to Beechwoods, north almost to Brockway, east to the DuBois Reservoir, southeast to Luthersburg, southwest to Troutville and west almost to Reynoldsville.
The circle includes West Liberty, Clear Run, DuBois City, Treasure Lake (volunteers are needed here), Kyle Lake, Lake Sabula, Game Lands No. 77 and Harvey Run.
2018 DuBois Christmas Bird Count Results
The DuBois Christmas Bird count, which took place Dec. 15, 2018, was the 30th count for DuBois. The first DuBois count was in 1987 and has taken place every year, except for 1998 and 2004, due to no one being available to coordinate it.
Atkinson said the weather for the 2018 count was ideal for birders with a high of 43 degrees and a low of 34 degrees. There also wasn’t any snow or ice on the ground.
The rain held off until around 3 p.m., she said, and was light. But, the fairly mild weather curtailed bird activity, making it a challenge to find birds. Participants ventured into the field or counted at their feeders.
All lakes and ponds were frozen over except for a small area in the middle of Bimini Lake at Treasure Lake, Atkinson said, adding that streams were open.
According to Atkinson, 54 bird species were found on count day and an additional six species were added during count week, which consists of three days before and three days after count day. Several birders went owling, but only came up with one Screech Owl on count day and one Great-Horned Owl during count week.
This was also the third DuBois count in a row where turkey vultures were seen on count day. They had not been found during any DuBois count before 2016. Turkey vultures are more common in the southern part of Pennsylvania during the winter.
According to Atkinson, the DuBois count had a first-time species – a Trumpeter swan. It was tagged P42 and named Disco. These birds are very rare anywhere in Pennsylvania during the two-week timeframe when Christmas Bird Counts can take place, and aren’t reported every year in Pennsylvania.
Some of the other waterfowl added to count day and count week totals were: Tundra swan, wood duck, gadwall, long-tailed duck, bufflehead, common goldeneye, hooded merganser, ruddy duck and horned grebe.
Other species found were great blue heron, bald eagle, ring-billed gull, American kestrel, horned lark, brown creeper, northern mockingbird, snow bunting, field sparrow, fox sparrow, swamp sparrow and pine siskin. Only one American Robin was tallied.
House finch numbers were way down, according to Atkinson, who said the 2018 count produced 51 house finches. The highest number of house finches since the DuBois count began was 452 in 1996.
