The annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is a citizen science project that I’ve participated in for over 10 years. Our local CBC is organized by the Pilchuck Audubon Society. What is the Christmas Bird Count you ask?
The Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC) was started in 1900 as an alternative to the "Christmas side hunt" in which teams competed to shoot as many birds as possible, and it is the nation's longest running community science survey. From the original 25 CBC counts conducted on Christmas day in 1900, we are now up to over 2,600 CBC circles worldwide.
The 15-mile diameter count circles are divided into sections which are surveyed by teams of volunteers to identify and count all of the wild birds present. In addition to field teams, we have feeder watchers who identify and count the birds at their feeders. The results are tallied and submitted to the National Audubon Society.
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I participate in the Edmonds Circle CBC. This circle is divided into 10 areas as shown on this map: Edmonds Circle Map. In past count years, I’ve done Area 2 because it includes my neighborhood. I’m familiar with it. Three years ago, I did Area 10 on the southernmost tip of Whidbey Island. Area 10 was available again this year, so I signed on for it. The nice thing about Area 10 is that it’s a small area that can be counted in a long morning by a small team. Not only that, it’s simply beautiful. Plus getting there involves taking a ferry, which is always fun. Even better, my wife joins me — a team of two. As a team, I did the counting on the eBird app. My wife listened using the Merlin sound app.
Area 10 has only two publicly accessible areas: Possession Point State Park and Possession Beach Waterfront Park. These are shown on the following map.
We started the day at Zero Dark 30, boarding the 7:00 AM ferry at Mukilteo, bound for Clinton on Whidbey Island, barely a 20 minute cruise across Possession Sound. We arrived at Possession Point State Park just as daylight was breaking. We spent a good part of the morning on the beach scanning the water for seabirds. The tide was high so there wasn’t much beach. Because of the high tide, we couldn’t get past the bluffs around to the south (right as you face the water). The bluffs rise over 300 feet here. The sand and gravel sediments exposed in the bluff face document thousands of years of glacial advance and retreat. I wrote about it here in this Bucket: The Daily Bucket: Ice Age Revealed at Barnum Point
There was a fantastic array of sea birds out on the water — gulls overhead, cormorants (Double-crested and Pelagic), Red-necked Grebes, Horned Grebes, Red-breasted Mergansers, one Harlequin Duck, and Common Murres well offshore. None were close enough for good photos. But I had a spotting scope to bring them into view. Also seen were some sea lions surfacing, diving, snorting. The sea lions are large beasts, truly frightening close up when compared to the friendly harbor seals we commonly see here.
We then took the loop trail up into the wooded upland area. The upland didn’t prove very productive for birds. The trail was steep in places and covered in leaves making for some tricky footing. In a couple places there were fallen trees to scramble over the top or under while doing a crab walk.
Here’s our checklist for this location: Checklist — Possession Point State Park
We next headed over to Possession Beach Waterfront Park, a short drive. We focused on the beach and a small wetland area that was good for the smaller birds, mostly House Finches and a passing group of Red-winged Blackbirds.
Here’s our checklist for this location: Checklist — Possession Beach Waterfront Park
After we felt that we had exhausted all bird counting possibilities, we headed over to Langley for lunch and Christmas shopping. Langley is one of those artsy-craftsy towns. We had lunch at The Braeburn. No table seating since it was a busy Saturday at a popular tourist spot. So, we sat at the bar for lunch. It was just a little too early in the day for drinks but people next to us we throwing back Bloody Mary’s. Coffee for us, thanks. We still had more to see on Whidbey.
After lunch in Langley, we headed to South Whidbey State Park for some walking in the woods. Note that this was outside of the count circle, so no more counting. There were a flock of Varied Thrushes in a clearing.
And mushrooms.
By now we were getting hungry. So, we stopped at the Penn Cove Taproom for gourmet hot dogs and a beer. It was the end of the day and beer tasted pretty good.
By the time we made it back to the ferry dock in Clinton, it was dark.
The back story here is that the night before the count day, our water heater decided it was time to leak. I was down in our utility room, swapping laundry, and I start hearing some gurgling and dripping. I look over to the water heater and it’s leaking pretty good, the drip pan is filling. I shut the water supply off (to the water heater, not the house). I turned off the pilot light and the gas supply. I connected a garden hose to the water heater’s drain valve and start draining the tank just in time because the drip pan was already full and starting to overflow. I thought instead of counting birds, I’d be installing a water heater. I called older son, who works for Puget Sound Energy, doing various things involving natural gas including responding to gas leaks and troubleshooting appliances. So, while we were out counting birds, older son goes to Home Depot, buys a water heater, and installs it … before noon.
Thanks for joining me. Has anyone done the CBC this year, or going to do the CBC this year, or has done a CBC in the past? Would you consider participating in a future CBC?
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