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Glen host to variety of feathered friends in winter
- Published: January 16, 2013
Tundra swans, northern harriers and purple finches were some of the unusual sightings during Glen Helen’s part of the 2012 Greene County Christmas Bird Count a few weeks ago. The tallies are in, and this year’s total species count of 51 easily topped last year with 27, and the previous one with 39. Though the total number of birds, 2,407, was down a bit, due to fewer sightings of mass robin and starling flocks and a smaller group of counters, according to a recent recap by Glen Helen Ecology Institute Director Nick Boutis.
During the count, completed in one day within a 7-mile radius of Yellow Springs, two groups happened on flocks of tundra swans, “easily the most surprising sightings of the day,” Boutis said. The one-day naturalists also witnessed notable woodpecker damage to ash trees that have recently been infested with the emerald ash borer.
The total list of birds sighted is as follows:
4: Great Blue Heron
2: Black Vulture
8: Tundra swan
237: Canada Goose
90: Mallard
1: Northern Harrier
4: Cooper’s Hawk
2: Red-shouldered Hawk
8: Red-tailed Hawk
29: Wild Turkey
40: Rock Pigeon
78: Mourning Dove
1: Eastern Screech-Owl
1: Barred Owl
6: Belted Kingfisher
32: Red-bellied Woodpecker
1: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
37: Downy Woodpecker
8: Hairy Woodpecker
14: Northern Flicker
9: Pileated Woodpecker
42: Blue Jay
131: American Crow
143: Horned Lark
146: Carolina Chickadee
59: Tufted Titmouse
4: Red-breasted Nuthatch
31: White-breasted Nuthatch
11: Brown Creeper
35: Carolina Wren
1: Winter Wren
19: Golden-crowned Kinglet
21: Eastern Bluebird
3: Hermit Thrush
19: American Robin
3: Northern Mockingbird
609: European Starling
2: Eastern Towhee
11: American Tree Sparrow
27: Song Sparrow
5: Swamp Sparrow
44: White-throated Sparrow
76: Dark-eyed Junco
157: Northern Cardinal
2: Common Grackle
19: Brown-headed Cowbird
2: Purple Finch
36: House Finch
9: Pine Siskin
91: American Goldfinch
45: House Sparrow
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