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CBC 2003-4
by: Mike Lushington
One of the more pleasant and anticipated "traditions" of the Holiday
Season in recent years has been the running of the annual Christmas Bird
Count. For a number of years now, Pat McGorlick and I have organized the
Dalhousie count. This winter, we ran it on December 28th.
Christmas Bird Counts have a long and increasingly honourable tradition
in North America. They began more than one hundred years ago as responses
to the older and more savage pastime of taking a gun afield just after
Christmas to shoot everything in sight in order to win some sort of prize
as "top gun" of the day. In that time, CBCs have added huge amounts of
information on bird populations and movements, as well as changes in those
demographics.
The concept is simple. Each count encompasses a formal circle with a
radius of about 15 kilometres. The Dalhousie count is actually centred at
Selwood Corners in Balmoral; from there it radiates back into the
Southeast, west up through Balmoral and across to Dundee, northwest to
Dalhousie Junction, east through the town itself and on down to Lower
Charlo. It also extends out into the Restigouche Estuary and the Upper Bay
of Chaleur, but until we find someone with a seaworthy boat and the time
to run it during a count period, that part of the circle remains only
"mare incognita" - the unknown sea. Someone like Pat or me agrees to
organize volunteers to scan as much of that area as possible in one day
during a three week period over the holidays. Different coordinators do
things in their own ways: in this instance, Pat organizes the feeder
watchers and I, the field trips.
Over the years, volunteers have become faithful to certain sections of
the circle. My most appreciated groups have always been those that Bob
Gillis organizes to walk the Eel River Trail. Every year, these hardy
souls hike that trail, knowing that they are unlikely to see many birds,
but counting diligently those that they do see. They have even taken to
counting cows and UFO's, I suspect, to have something to talk about at the
dinner we always have immediately afterwards.This is always the group that
seems to have the most fun, even though one of them slipped and fell on
the icy trail this year.
I had expected count results to be low this year. We had had a lot of
wind and unsettled weather. As well it had been mild and there was little
ice. In other words, there were none of the conditions that usually
encourage birds to settle in and be available for easy counting. Somewhat
surprisingly, then, we ended up with a total species count for the day of
38, one more than in the previous year and five more than two years ago.
Total numbers of individuals were down, though, mainly as a result of the
open water that encouraged birds to scatter all over the Bay rather than
in a few sheltered locations. to cite just one example, the Dalhousie
Count always finds the largest numbers in the entire Maritimes of a very
pretty seaduck called Barrow's goldeneye. Last year, with heavy ice
conditions, we had nearly 350 of them, mainly off the Bon Ami Rocks; this
year, the number was down to about 150. I know that there are many more of
them out there, but we simply couldn't see them.
Each year has its surprises, as well as its expected results. I suppose
that this is what keeps drawing us back to do the annual counts. That, and
the camaraderie that always ensues as a result of having spent another
most enjoyable day outdoors in this very beautiful part of the world.
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