Merlin (female), photo
by Carena Pooth UPDATED 3/20/13
(Thanks for John Askildsen for correcting my ID!)
Seen on the Pawling CBC, January 1, 2013
The
Christmas Bird Count (CBC) was inaugurated at the turn of the last century by Frank Chapman of the National Audubon Society. The fascinating history of this annual event is detailed on the History page of the National Audubon Society's CBC website.
The
purpose of this annual census, now enjoyed by over 50,000 participants
throughout the western hemisphere each year, is to gather data
that can be used to identify bird population trends from year
to year,
which in turn can help scientists understand environmental impacts
of weather, habitat loss, industrialization, human expansion,
and
other factors.
For
the CBC, the Americas are divided into circles that are 15 miles
in diameter. Within each circle, a team of volunteers spends an
entire day (in the second half of December or in early January)
counting all bird species, and individuals within each species.
The results are compiled at the end of the day for each circle,
and then they are sent to the NAS for inclusion in the complete
records.
The
CBC is now over 100 years old and the Ralph T. Waterman Bird
Club
has been leading the count in Dutchess County since the club's
inception in 1958; as of the 2010-11 season, Herb Thompson is the compiler. The club also participates
in the Pawling (Hidden Valley) count, which encompasses eastern
Dutchess County as well as parts of western Connecticut and Putnam
County. Sybill Gilbert, also a member of our club, was the compiler
for the Pawling CBC for many years and then handed it over to Carena Pooth, who continues in her role with the assistance of Angela Dimmitt on the CT side of the border. Finally, a third circle that intersects
Dutchess
County is the one for Lakeville-Sharon, centered in Lakeville,
CT. This circle includes parts of the towns of Northeast
and Amenia
in Dutchess County, and those areas are covered by Ralph T. Waterman
Bird Club members.
Get
Involved!
When: The
113th CBC season ran from December 14, 2012 through January 5, 2013. The Dutchess County CBC was
held on December 15, 2012 and the Pawling/Hidden Valley CBC was
held on January 1st, 2013. For
other
CBCs in New York State, check the New
York State Ornithological Association website.
Want
to experience the excitement and camaraderie of the next Christmas
Bird
Count? Watch in the October and November issues of our club newsletter,
Wings Over Dutchess, for information on participating
in the Dutchess and Pawling CBCs. For contact information for
the
Housatonic Audubon Society (which coordates the Lakeville-Sharon
CBC) check the website of the Audubon
Society in Connecticut.
The
results of the latest Dutchess County and Pawling CBCs are shown below.
Local
CBC Count Circle Maps
View
or print maps of our local CBC circles. If you have a high
speed internet connection (such as cable or DSL), you can quickly
download the high resolution maps. If you have a dialup
connection, you may prefer the faster downloading (but lower
resolution) files.
High Resolution (large
pdf files, Adobe Acrobat Reader required...Download
Acrobat now)
 Dutchess
County Circle (453KB) Pawling
(Hidden Valley) Circle (411KB)
Lower
Resolution (faster download, jpg files)
Dutchess
County Circle (75KB) Pawling
(Hidden Valley) Circle (95KB)
Official
Audubon CBC
Results
You
can see the results of any CBC ever held at the National
Audubon Society website. Enter the year(s) you're interested in and the 4-letter count code, and the data will be displayed. Alternatively, you can enter the country and state/province you're interested in, and a list of counts will be displayed. Click the circle to the left of the count for which you want to see the data, and it will be displayed.
Our local CBCs have these count codes:
Dutchess
County — NYDC
Pawling (Hidden Valley) — NYHV
Lakeville-Sharon, CT — CTLS
Ulster-Dutchess — NYUD
Dutchess
County Results - December
15, 2012
December 15, 2012 Summary Chart (pdf format)
For additional details,
see the National
Audubon Society website version
of this data.
Pawling
(Hidden Valley) CBC
- January 1, 2013
January 1, 2013 Summary Chart (pdf format) UPDATED
3/20/13
For additional details,
see the National
Audubon Society website version
of this data.
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