For the Birds
Last Saturday's frigid temperatures couldn't prevent dedicated birdwatchers from fanning out across Butler County for the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania's Christmas Bird Count.
And while the low temperatures did drive at least one feathered species to seek warmer climes, the cold weather didn't deter two rare avian visitors from being spotted.
Sixty-seven observers hit the field or watched home feeders during the annual early-winter bird census, said Christ Kubiak, director of education with the Audubon Society. The local bird counting spanned a 15-mile-diameter circle centered on Callery.
Kubiak said, “It was a cold one for sure. We started the day at 4 degrees and got to a balmy 15 degrees above zero by the afternoon.”
“It was just really cold, but it was really sunny,” he said.
Kubiak said he was out for nine hours observing in his assigned territory in the northern section of the circle from Succop Nature Park in Penn Township across to Forward Township to Connoquenessing.
“I stopped roughly where 528 starts north of Evans City,” Kubiak said. “In the morning I had a couple of people with me, but the cold got through to them so they kind of left.”
“I am still tabulating the exact number, but the rough number is 51 species,” he said.
The number of species was down slightly, but he said that was not surprising because the weather was so cold and there was practically no open water that wasn't frozen.
One species missing in this year's count, Kubiak said, was turkey vultures.
“Turkey vultures in the past had left the area in the winters. But as the winters warmed, they moved their ranges north,” he said, noting the birds respond to short-term temperature fluctuations and this year appeared to have fled the county for warmer habitats.
But spotters did encounter a couple of bird species whose presence seemed to be an indication of a warming local climate.
“We found a decent number, a dozen or more, of purple finches,” Kubiak said. “They are rapidly expanding their range north since the 1950s.”
And Kubiak said he made the first winter sighting of a rusty blackbird near a ballfield along Ash Stop Road in Forward Township.
Kubiak said the rusty blackbird sighting was “interesting for a couple of things. Normally it overwinters south and west of us.
“And it's an arboreal northern species that has declined 90 percent in the last 30 years. We don't quite understand why that is,” he said. “To get one in the count circle in winter is pretty good. Sometimes you get oddballs like that.”
“Another positive note is that the American kestrel continues to be found in numbers. They are doing pretty well, that's a good sign,” he said.
Birds weren't the only thing made scarce by the weather. Out of the 67 participants in last weekend's bird count, 21 people were out in the field.
“We certainly would have had more if the temperature would have been higher. The rest were feeder-watchers,” he said. “We had a nice mix, two-thirds were long-term birders and some people tagged along as well and learned the ins and outs of a Christmas bird count.”Participants are invited to a lunch at noon Saturday at the Hardwood Cafe, 646 Pittsburgh Road, for a summary of the count results.Jan. 7 participation was down. Still, that's more than turned out for Dec. 17's Bartramian Audubon Chapter's annual count at Jennings Environmental Center, 2951 Prospect Road, Brady Township, said Becky Lubold, environmental specialist at the center.The Jennings' count was part of the Bartramian Chapter's area, a 15-mile-diameter circle centered at Moraine State Park, Lubold said. The center was to have served as an indoor observation station from 9 a.m. to noon.“The weather may have deterred people from coming out for the counts,” said Lubold.Still, Bartramian members braved the cold to conduct the survey in and around Portersville, Prospect, Slippery Rock and Moraine State Park, said chapter President Jeffrey Hall of Franklin.“We had 23 individuals in the field and 12 at home. We identified 57 species. That's below the 50-year average of 70,” said Hall. “But it was absolutely dreadful weather. There was rain, fog, drizzle and snow and ice the night before.”“The ponds were covered in ice which cut down on the number of waterfowl. And a lot of people didn't get started until after 10 a.m.,” Hall said.Still, the watchers turned up some interesting sightings.“We spotted 29 red wing blackbirds, that's more than usual,” said Hall.“And we saw one bird we've never seen in Butler County before, a golden eagle. They are usually in the mountains east of here,” said Hall.Lubold said there will be another opportunity to participate in citizen science related to birds on Feb. 18 from 9 a.m. to noon at the center.This is a workshop designed to introduce the “Great Backyard Bird Count,” an international effort set for Feb. 17 through Feb. 20.
