Nov
22
2024

Glen host to variety of feathered friends in winter

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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