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Manassas-Bull Run Christmas Bird Count (CBC) Date: December each year. Specific date rescheduled to: Saturday, December 26, 2009 Locations: 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. Contact: ASNV at
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or (703) 256-6895 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.
2008 recap:
The 27th Manassas-Bull Run Christmas Bird Count on December 14, 2008 count was very successful! Highlights from the count:
- 92 volunteers (10 of whom were under 18) turned out;
- Tallied 85 species (tied for second highest number ever on this count) and a total of 18,636 birds;
- Two first-ever species for our count circle: Laughing Gull spotted by Larry Cartwright and Yellow Warbler seen by George Lea and his entire team;
- New all-time high numbers for 8 species:
- Tundra Swan,
- Northern Pintail,
- Common Merganser,
- Wild Turkey,
- Black Vulture,
- Bald Eagle,
- Common Raven, and
- House Sparrow;
- Only the second sighting of a Redhead ever seen on our count, a Northern
Bobwhite (during count week), 4 Horned Larks (first since 2004), and 18 Eastern Meadowlarks. - Numbers for American Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Eastern Bluebird, Yellowrumped Warbler and Field Sparrow continued to rebound from low count numbers of 2003 and 2004.
See the full count results here. Thanks to all of you for making it happen - and don't forget to join us next year! Special thanks to Trader Joe’s in Centreville for providing a portion of the food we enjoyed at the lunch at the Walney Center. 2007 recap: The 27th Manassas-Bull Run CBC proceeded despite rain and a looming winter storm. Though the weather definitely held down the turnout, we still had 56 intrepid volunteers who managed to observe 76 species and some 19,000 birds. Among the highlights of our count were: - three Red-breasted Mergansers,
- the first Ring-necked Pheasant since 1984,
- two Great Horned Owls, three Red-headed Woodpeckers (there were none last year),
- a Brown Thrasher,
- an American Tree Sparrow,
- two Pine Siskins, and
- a Rusty Blackbird.
It is difficult to state much with certainty about trends in bird presence given the weather conditions and other variables. Nevertheless, some facts do stand out: - The number of birds counted is the highest since 2003, and the number of species is the highest since 2004.
- The number of Cedar Waxwings was an all-time high, and Common Mergansers were near an all-time high.
- Numbers for American Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, and Eastern Bluebird continued to rebound from low count numbers of 2003 and 2004.
- Finally, the number of Red-winged Blackbirds was the highest since 1988.
See the composite results for the '07 Manassas Christmas Bird Count here.
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