Don’t count yourself out, feeder-watchers. You, too, can help with the annual Everett-Marysville-area (Dec. 16) and Edmonds-area bird counts (Dec. 30)
Across the country, the 107th annual Christmas Bird Count runs from Thursday to Jan. 5, a tradition that attempts to count and record all wild birds in a given 24-hour period.
Each count circle has a 15-mile diameter, which is subdivided into many territories that are covered by different parties.
The data, compiled by the National Audubon Society, has provided insights into bird population trends over the years, and clues to overall land-use impacts, as well as larger climactic and regional trends.
“Of 49 Christmas counts held last season in Washington state alone, Everett-Marysville, with 38 field observers in 14 territories, logged 136 species, the third-highest total for Washington state,” said Scott Atkinson, co-compiler of the local count.
The only higher species counts were in Sequim-Dungeness (142) and Grays Harbor (138) on the Olympic Peninsula.
Occasionally there are surprises for birders braving the winter chill and dampness. Last year two barn swallows and six tree swallows were seen over Union Slough east of the Everett sewage treatment plant, Atkinson said.
“Finding a single swallow in December this far north is big news, but eight birds of two different species on the same December day was unprecedented in state history,” he said.
A snowy owl was seen on the north shoreline of Jetty Island, and a rare slaty-backed gull from Russia’s far east was spotted at the Everett treatment plant.
The Everett-Marysville count is centered just northwest of downtown Marysville. Its northern end is the I-5 bridge over the Stillaguamish River at Island Crossing; the east edge is at the 131st Street and 84th Street NE (Getchell Hill Road) intersection; the southern end is in downtown Everett at the intersection of Rucker and Hewitt avenues.
The circle extends west to the extreme southeast corner of Camano Island and includes all of Marysville, Smokey Point, Sisco Heights, the Tulalip Indian Reservation, Jetty and Gedney islands, and most of the Everett waterfront.
Arlington airport is in the northeast part of the circle, but Arlington proper is outside the count area; Kayak Point State Park’s southern portion is within the circle, as is the extreme northwest shoreline of Lake Stevens.
Additional volunteers are always welcomed, Atkinson said. Less-experienced birdwatchers usually can accompany more experienced ones.
And the feeder-watchers?
“People are welcome to submit lists of birds noted at bird feeders or on private properties they own, with whatever amount of time they wish to contribute,” Atkinson said.
“Any rare or unusual species normally require either photograph, excellent written documentation or subsequent confirmation by a third party for acceptance,” he said.
The center of the Edmonds count circle is just north of 164th on Ash Way. Boundaries are roughly Kenmore at the north end of Lake Washington, Woodway and its shoreline, all of Mukilteo, the south end of Everett, a little north of the Snohomish River (including the Snohomish sewage lagoon, Harvey Field and Shadow Lake), Maltby and Bothell.
In last year’s Christmas count, Edmonds-area birders saw 101 species and a total of 24,750 birds, said Jan van Niel.
“We saw more band-tailed pigeons and killdeer than ever before,” van Niel said.
Although it wasn’t seen during count day, a palm warbler was spotted by the Edmonds waterfront during the Christmas Bird Count week.
“It was very unusual,” he said.
And unusual is always a treat on count day.
To sign up for the north county count, contact Scott Atkinson (425-210-2716) or Mary Teesdale (360-734-2561, meteesdale@hotmail.com). To join the Edmonds count, call Sally or Jan van Niel, 425-778-7568.
On the bookshelf: Author Tim Gallagher looks back at his bird-related travels in the paperback edition of “In Search of Wild Birds: A Naturalist’s Journey into Parts Unknown” ($14.95).
Two years ago he and another researcher reported sighting an ivory-billed woodpecker in an Arkansas swamp. “In Search,” he takes readers with him on 24 other adventures.
Columnist Sharon Wootton can be reached at 360-468-3964 or www.songandword.com.
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