This winter, we rang within the season by collaborating in our very first Christmas Fowl Depend (CBC). Each of us—Gabrielle Saleh and Christine Lin—have labored at Audubon for just a few years and hail from the Dallas-Fort Price space in Texas. Regardless of being avid chook lovers who usually elevate CBC occasions on Audubon’s social media platforms, we had but to affix one firsthand! And what an expertise it was—we invite you to learn alongside for 3 completely different CBC occasions round Dallas.
Lake Ray Hubbard – December 18
Gabrielle: It’s 6:30 am and 30 levels Fahrenheit—and I’m mentally getting ready myself to journey an hour to my first CBC: the Lake Ray Hubbard rely, an space simply east of Dallas. I have been birding since I used to be seven years outdated, however I’ve by no means been capable of take part in a CBC. Between household emergencies and vacation plans, the timing by no means aligned. That’s till this 12 months—my first 12 months as a full-time worker at Audubon—after I grew to become decided to expertise one.
Immediately, I’m bringing my boyfriend alongside, one other avid birder, and my driver as I hold my eyes peeled on the street for birds. This enables me to identify the primary chook of the day—a meadowlark perched on a barbed wire close to a discipline simply earlier than we attain the group. We have to cowl a number of parks across the lake, so we alternate pleasantries and direct our eyes and ears to the world round us. However we’re greeted with…silence? With the chilly temperatures, the birds seem shy, to say the least. This leaves us time to get to know one another. We discuss when birds first captured our hearts—some are new to birding whereas others have been birding for many years. We’re interrupted by two Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers hammering away at a tree.
After encountering just a few extra woodpeckers, we head to our subsequent vacation spot and listen to a flock of Canada Geese flying overhead. The rely organizer talks about how CBCs aren’t nearly including a uncommon chook to the listing. They’re additionally about counting all of the frequent birds, all the way down to the final starling. It makes us admire the Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Chickadee, and Jap Bluebird we spot flying from tree to tree. I’ve to go away early, which solely spurs my need to attend my subsequent one.
Village Creek Drying Beds – December 26
Gabrielle: It’s 8 am, and I’m on the way in which to my second Christmas Fowl Depend: the Arlington Village Creek Drying Beds rely, a wastewater therapy facility proper in the midst of Dallas and Fort Price. Immediately my boyfriend and I are birding with a pair who’ve been internet hosting this rely for years. They share a guidelines of the birds which were noticed within the space through the previous couple of weeks, and we’re decided to test off a majority of these birds at this time.
The world offers prime habitat for quite a lot of waterfowl. However since temperatures have been hovering close to freezing, there’s a skinny sheet of ice overlaying a lot of the water and fewer geese than regular. The geese which can be left are comically waddling throughout the ice to get from one patch of water to a different. After we share just a few laughs, we begin the duty of counting them. Counting a whole lot of Northern Shovelers has by no means been my specialty, so I begin with the person birds—two Pied-billed Grebes, 4 Ruddy Geese, and 6 Buffleheads—and regularly work my method as much as counting just a few flocks of Gadwalls. Fortunately one of many leaders is expert at counting flocks and data precisely 322 American Coots.
We’re hours in, and we flip round to identify a coyote gingerly following us, however this doesn’t deter us from finishing our route. To date, we haven’t noticed a chook that’s out of the atypical. That’s till we cross paths with a few birders who inform us that there’s been a younger Sandhill Crane noticed roaming the fields, they usually lead us proper to it. We stare in awe.
We nonetheless have just a few extra websites to go to earlier than we name it a day. It’s thrilling to drive round in hopes of recognizing a brand new chook at every location. Simply as we’re about to go away our final web site, a neighborhood golf course, my boyfriend spots a Loggerhead Shrike, and we later discover out that it is the just one recorded by all of the zones. We rejoice by assembly up with everybody who participated in varied zones and sharing tales of our sightings. It appears like a neighborhood realizing that we’re all right here to rejoice and assist birds.
Cedar Hill – January 1
Christine: What higher solution to begin off the brand new 12 months than with some morning birding? It’s 8 am, and my mother and I’ve simply pulled up on the parking zone on the Dogwood Canyon Audubon Heart in Cedar Hill, Texas. Whereas I’m making an attempt laborious to suppress just a few yawns, the brisk air and pleasure of being exterior snap me into alert mode.
Like Gabrielle, that is additionally my first time collaborating in a CBC, regardless of being a “budding birder” ever since I began working at Audubon 5 years in the past. My mother, alternatively, can hardly inform a dove from a warbler, however her enthusiasm makes up for all of it the identical. With binoculars in hand, our group—led by Katie Christman—jumps right into a van and embarks on our first journey.
It is a comparatively quiet morning, however between a nature reserve, a frisbee golf course, and a library located by a pond, we discover fairly just a few feathered mates. American Crows abound, a Northern Cardinal pair poses in a naked tree, American Robins hop round, Black and Turkey Vultures circle overhead, and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet peeks out at us. My lack of refined chook ID abilities incorrectly identifies a Blue Jay as a Belted Kingfisher within the distance, however the consultants within the group shortly make the correction. I additionally rely a Northern Mockingbird, the state chook of Texas, and certainly one of my favourite species to see with their expressive tails.
Gabrielle: It’s 8 am, and clearly, I can’t get sufficient of CBCs. It is a thrill to chook with others all with the frequent objective of serving to guarantee a future for birds. Immediately, I’m bringing my dad alongside for the experience. He’s been my private chauffeur on birding adventures since I used to be seven, so it’s becoming that he experiences a CBC, too.
Christman drives us to our first location, a quiet protect in Cedar Hill. There isn’t a lot exercise however this provides us time to pay attention. We hear a Carolina Wren and a pair of Northern Cardinals. In between sightings, we get to know one another and share what led us to take part on this rely. Our group has skilled birders and newbies, so our tales fluctuate, however all of us deliver with us a love for our feathered mates.
We arrive at one other location the place we lastly discover some geese. It’s a small blended flock, so this time, I take the lead on counting Northern Pintails and Ring-necked Geese after choosing up just a few suggestions from my earlier rely—what a beautiful solution to finish my first season of CBCs.
It’s protected to say that each of us completely loved our first CBCs, from how welcoming they’re to how they join members with our love of birds and our ardour for shielding them. Plus, it’s wonderful to know that every one our sightings will assist scientists perceive how birds are faring throughout the hemisphere. Christmas Fowl Counts really present that whether or not you’re a newbie or a seasoned birder, you generally is a neighborhood scientist. And now that now we have one season below our belt, we’re able to take part in future counts to come back.
Considering becoming a member of a Christmas Fowl Depend this 12 months? Learn the way to get entangled right here.