Dark-eyed junco

"We had more hawks than usual," said Brookings ornithologist Nelda Holden, "and we added several northern species to the count. It was good to find snow buntings, Lapland longspurs, common repolls and brown creepers on the list again this year." The doyenne of local birdwatchers was talking about the Brookings County Christmas Bird Count, part of the national Audubon census taken each year during the holidays. The local watch was originally set for Dec. 20, but bad weather postponed the outing until Dec. 27. Holden reported that 14 hardy souls turned out for the count and more than 1,865 local birds. "Despite the cold and deep snow, we had a very good count," Holden reported. What are Christmas Bird Counts (CBC)? Each Christmas season, tens of thousands of volunteers go afield to count and record each individual species they encounter during one calendar day and within a 15-mile diameter circle.

Brookings' observation area is centered five miles south and two miles east of Volga, Holden said.

Citizen-scientists conduct more than 2,000 official counts during the three-week counting period. The Audubon census, now in its 109th year, gathers data on bird types and numbers, and that information helps scientists help birds. The numbers provide a clear record of the rise and fall of various bird species. No robins yet

There were no cold-weather robins spotted this year by the local birders, but there were plenty of other warm-weather guests:

"Of the summer residents, we had more flickers than usual," said Holden, "red-wing blackbirds, cowbirds, and a lone grackle and a mourning dove."

The teams spotted total of 43 species on their single-day census. They recorded four other species during the week of the count, including a great blue heron, mallards, a northern goshawk and a gray partridge .

Hunters should be cheered that the birders tallied 89 pheasants and five turkeys.

The common house sparrow was the most numerous species 490 of them turned up but other winter birds turned up in big numbers: 155 juncos, 193 goldfinches and 43 chickadees.

For those interested in knowing their feathered neighbors, this is the official count (cw observed during count week):

Great blue heron cw, Canada goose 24, mallard cw, northern harrier 3, Coopers hawk 2, sharp-shinned hawk 1, red-tailed hawk 6, roughlegged hawk 2, northern goshawk cw, kestrel 1; In a pear tree?

Gray partridge cw, ringnecked pheasant 89, wild turkey 5, mourning dove 1, Eurasian collared dove 10, rock dove (common pigeon) 212;

Eastern screech owl 1, longeared owl 3, great horned owl 4;

Red-bellied woodpecker 2, downy woodpecker 33, hairy woodpecker 14, northern flicker 5, northern shrike 6, bluejay 45, American crow 41; Larks and chickadees

Horned lark 146, blackcapped chickadee 43, redbreasted nuthatch 8, whitebreasted nuthatch 23, brown creeper 2, European starling 96;

Dark-eyed junco 155, Oregon junco 1, northern cardinal 7, American tree sparrow 32, white-crowned sparrow 1;

Red-winged blackbird 2, brown-headed cowbird 3, common grackle 1, Lapland longspur 3, purple finch 4, house finch 41, common redpoll 12, pine siskin 52, American goldfinch 193, snow bunting 40, house sparrow 490.

The local CBC tally and counts from birders across the country can be viewed on the Audubon Web site, www.audubon.org/Bird/cbc/.