|
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Local
birders will be out in force again this weekend to do the second of two annual
bird counts around Kodiak. The Narrow Cape and Kalsin Bay count will be on
Saturday. After the recent Kodiak bird count, Rich Macintosh compiled the
sighting reports brought in by the 61 volunteers, most of whom braved extremely
inclement weather.
-- (Birds 1 40 sec "It
went remarkably well considering ... well with the lousy weather.")
He says
there were very good counts this year in back yard bird feeders:
-- (Birds 2 37 sec "We
had a lot of sparrows ... 16 feeders we had on the count.")
In addition
to feeders, Kodiak birders go out in teams to count along the road system, from
two boats along the shore and even in the backcountry:
-- (Birds 3 16 sec "Amazingly
we had one ptarmigan ... on the part of Patrick Saltonstall.")
Macintosh
says that very exotic birds from Asia were not seen this year, despite the
series of Pacific storms that have blown through this fall. He says that if
there were any, they might have been blown onto the Kenai Peninsula and
elsewhere on the mainland. Nevertheless, he said there are always some rare
birds that show up:
-- (Birds 4 29 sec "But
there's nothing terribly exotic ... have been fairly unusual.")
The good
count this year has boosted Kodiak back up to the number one spot for birding
in the state, after Ketchikan counted more species the past four years:
-- (Birds 5 22 sec "I
don't know what happened down ... we waxed them.")
Macintosh
says the Narrow Cape - Kalsin Bay count scheduled for tomorrow is smaller, and
is actually full, since only a limited number of qualified group leaders are
available.
Last year
throughout the Americas there were 60,000 participants in over 2,000 counts. You
can find more information on the bird count, which has happened around
Christmas for the last 112 years, at Audubon.org.
###
|
