Wednesday walk 1/20/10 changed BACK to Vassar Farm!
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Dutchess County CBC Results

The 2009 Christmas bird count, the 110th CBC, was a very productive event. This event takes place in a 7.5 mile radius circle with the center in Baird Park. The 36 field observers and 11 feeder watchers counted 71 species and 27,908 birds on count day. One additional species was found in the count week, Barred Owl.  On the plus side are the following: new record highs for Hooded Merganser, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle. The Brown Thrasher was last reported in 1971. Now for the negative side: no Wood Ducks, first since 1995; Mallard lowest since 1989; no Great Black-backed Gull, first since 1991; Mourning Dove lowest since 1963; no Great Horned Owl, first since 1979; Eastern Bluebird lowest since 1988; House Finch lowest since 1971.  Many thanks go to the observers and feeder watchers for their effort. We had about 10 less observers and 8 less feeder watchers this year. The species count was about average.  This was the 35th CBC that Fritz Waterman participated in. Congratulations, Fritz!
— Bill Case
For detailed results, see our CBC page.

Winter's Here

It's fun to see our feathered friends looking for feeders where they found them last year, but this also means that it's time to get those feeders back in shape and in place, and especially to keep them filled.  But don't forget that bears are showing up in more places around the county, so some additional precautions may be in order.

Northern Flicker & American Robins
at Birdbath in Winter
photo by Doreen Tignanelli

One more reminder:  Birds need water throughout the year.  Providing a source of open water during the freezing weather often offers as powerful a bird attractant as seed and suet.  You can keep an open water source by using a birdbath heater (available from mail order and online merchants such as Duncraft and Audubon Workshop, or from many of the local stores selling bird food and feeders).  An alternative is to pour hot water into the birdbath to melt ice, although this only solves the problem for a short time on very cold days.