Manassas-Bull Run Christmas Bird Count (CBC)
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Date:
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December 2012
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Locations:
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Sites in Manassas-Bull Run areas. Teams of volunteers led by expert birders cover areas around Centreville, including Manassas National Battlefield, Bull Run Regional Park, undeveloped areas along Bull Run Post Office Road, and many other locations.
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Contact:
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ASNV at
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or 703-438-6008
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History
The Audubon Society has sponsored the Christmas Bird count for over 100 years. Begun in 1900, it originally was held as a protest to a holiday tradition known as the “Christmas side hunt,” where hunters competed to see who could return with the largest pile of feathered or furred quarry. Over the years, the Christmas Bird Count has shifted towards bird conservation action in partnership with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology http://www.birds.cornell.edu/
The data collected by volunteers during the CBC are compiled and submitted to Cornell to create the largest database of bird information in the northern hemisphere.
2011
The 2011 Christmas Bird Count was held on December 18th. Results will be posted here in the near future.
2010 Results
2010 results can be found here.
2009 Recap
Weather conditions definitely hampered the 28th Manassas-Bull Run Christmas Bird Count. A powerful Nor’easter dumped 22” of snow on the originally scheduled weekend of the count, so we re-scheduled for the following weekend, December 26th which reduced the number of our participants. Minimal melting left much snow, beaten down brush and understory, ice on still water; the day was cold, starting out with rain, mist and fog before clearing around noon. Still, the weather did not diminish the spirits and accomplishments of the hardy counters. An intrepid group of 46 (half last year’s number) counted 77 species, and 16,479 birds. These are good numbers considering the conditions.
Among the highlights of our count were one first-ever species for our count circle (Great Egret spotted by Gerry Abbott and his team); a new all-time high number for Buffleheads (26), and second all-time high numbers for Killdeer (44) and White-throated sparrow (642). Also, we saw the first American Coots (3) since 2000, the first Woodcock since 2002, the highest number of Hermit Thrushes (20) since 1998 and 6 American Pipits. While the total number of species was higher than expected and the number of birds counted were within 10% of last year, the miserable weather conditions and reduced turnout of counters make it difficult to make comparisons with previous years for individual species .
Copies of the full results for the count are available from the ASNV office, from any of our sector leaders, or from the compiler, Bob Shipman. We’ll also plan to post them on the ASNV website.
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