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Winter is for the BirdsAuglaize Outdoors12.23.09

Imagine a car full of people looking at your house through binoculars. This wasthe scene played out recently when I had the privilege of participating in theGrand Lake St. Marys Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC).

Each year for the past 110 years throughout the Americas, bird watchers flock to

specific areas to take a census of bird species and numbers.

Of the 41 counts in Ohio, two take place near Auglaize County. The birdcounting area, called a circle, is 15 miles in diameter, one centered on IndianLake and the other on Grand Lake St. Marys.

Weather is everything when bird watching and our count date, December 19,coincided with the first heavy snow fall of the season. In addition to snow, earlycold temperatures caused Grand Lake to freeze up forcing geese, ducks, andgulls to look elsewhere for open water.

Looking but not finding birds along park trails, Plan B on a snowy census day isto drive up and down the lake suburbs looking for feeding stations. With naturalfood buried under the snow, birdfeeders become the restaurant of choice.Hawks and horned larks like the farm country and can be seen while drivingalong the back roads.

A variety of birds congregated around one particular house where we found threefeeders: one near the tree in the front yard; another near the living room windowand a third suction cupped to the window. It is a wonder that no one called thepolice as our team, stopped on the road, and four adults peered from the carthrough binoculars at the house.

The CBC is an exercise in citizen science: where professional and amateur alikejoin forces to collect data for the longest running wildlife census. The informationcollected is used to determine the health of bird populations and guideconservation action.

In 2007, the data was used to develop a report; Common Birds in Decline, listing20 familiar birds have taken a nosedive over the past forty years. For Example

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the bob white population is down 82%, meadowlark down 72%, and field sparrowdown 68%.

I worked with a team of 3 bird watchers who combined have 130 years of birdwatching experience. Doc Stephenson got his bird watching start when he

moved to the edge of Wapakoneta in 1979 and began looking at birds through anold pair of binoculars.

Frank Kuhlman, originally from Wisconsin and now living at Otterbein, caught thehobby from his parents at a young age and went on to get a degree in biology asa result.

Jill Bowers of rural St. Marys, our driver and guide, got her start as a child on thefarm. She chased killdeer in the fields and peeped through the barn floor intoswallow nests.

By lunch our team had counted 21 species of birds including great blue heron,Carolina chickadee, and kestrel. By 4:30pm we added 6 more species for a totalof 27. The grand total from all 13 birdwatchers in attendance at this count was40 species. Find the results on the Tri-Moraine Audubon Clubs web site inMarch- www.tri-moraineaudubon.org.

Get outdoors for your own winter adventure at The Lockkeepers Winter CanalWalk, Saturday, January 9, Crown Pavilion, Plum Street in New Bremen, registerbetween 9-11am. This is a free family fitness opportunity and part of the Road toFitness program.

Allison Brady, Executive DirectorHeritage Trails Park DistrictYour partner for parks in Auglaize County

Photo:From L to R- Jill Bowers, Frank Kuhlman, and Doc Stephenson(photos taken at Grand Lake St. Marys State Park)

Allison Brady, Executive DirectorHeritage Trails Park DistrictPO Box 63

St. Marys, OH 45885419.202.6053 cellabrady@watchtv.netWeb site: htparks.org

The mission of the Heritage Trails Park District is to create and preserve parkland for the purpose of conservation, leisure and education for all to enjoy

and appreciate.

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