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The number of birds recorded in this year’s local Christmas Bird Count was back up to normal and was highlighted by the presence of large numbers of common mergansers, blue jays, American robins, a single chipping sparrow, and a Virginia rail.
This was only the fourth record of a Virginia rail on the count - they were previously seen in 2021, 2020 and 2019 at a different location. On count day several large groups of American robins were seen.
The Christmas count for the Lexington Count Circle was conducted on Saturday, Dec. 1 6 C ount d ay, w hich began between 5 and 6 a.m. for those parties searching for owls, was clear with the temperatures ranging from the low 20s in the morning to the lower 50s later in the day. The cold morning temperatures kept many birds in deep cover until the temperatures warmed up.
This year marked the 98th Lexington area bird count and the 87th consecutive count for the area. A total of 75 species 8,911 individual birds were identified this year on count day. T his y ear’s t otal n umber of individuals was more than last year’s count of 5,670 and less than 2017’s count of 12,777 individuals and well below the record of 33,900 in 1976. Over the past 10 years, an average of 8,167 individuals and 76 species has been counted.
Since the first Lexington Area Christmas Bird Count, a cumulative total of 132 species have been identified on the s pecified c ount d ay. I n general, about 65 of the 132 species are regularly seen in the county during the winter. The other species are winter migrants that stop through the area and sometimes overwinter or are small groups or individuals that are “wandering” through the area.
The Lexington Area Christmas Bird Counts were begun by Postmaster M.G. Lewis and Dr. J. J. Murray, pastor of the Lexington Presbyterian Church. For over 35plus years, Dr. Bob Paxton, a retired Columbia University professor and displaced Lexingtonian, has participated in and coordinated the bird count. Currently, Dr. Dick Rowe, a professor at Virginia Military Institute, serves as the coordinator of the Lexington Bird Count.
The Christmas Bird Count is directed by the National Audubon Society. All Christmas Bird Counts are scheduled for a single day during the month of December. Volunteer participants try to count all birds within a 15mile diameter circle. The value of the Christmas Bird Counts is that a “snap-shot” of species and individuals in a given area is taken each year and trends in populations can be identified for an area or for the country, overall. Since 1974, the Lexington Bird Count Circle has been centered at Big Spring pond on U.S. 60 and thus there are 40-plus years of data for birds in the count area.
This year John and Sarah Burleson; Cinda Stanton; Laura Neale; Kip Brooks; Baron and Juliette Schwartz; Wendy and Steve Richards; Bob Biersack; Jerry and Glenda Jackson; Barbara and Dick Rowe; Lucy Rowe-Stanfill; Danny and Susan Hoehne; John Maluski; Nathan and Christa Bowden; David Buckner; John Pancake; Ann Olson; Paul Cabe; Lane Norris, Kit Huffman; Wayne, Julian, Diana, and Amanda Dymacek; Terri Bsullak, Bonnie Bernstein, Barbara Thomas; Barry Guttar; Joe Skovira; Hunt Riegal were able to participate in the count.
This year’s complete count was as follows: pied-billed grebe 4; great blue heron 28; black vulture 48; turkey vulture 176; Canada goose 467; green-winged teal 16: American black duck 12; mallard 35; gadwall 1; ring-necked duck 2; hooded merganser 140; common merganser 253; bald eagle 10; northern harrier 4; Cooper’s hawk 4; accipiter species 1; red-shouldered hawk 20; red-tailed hawk 32; American kestrel 12; wild turkey 15; Virginia rail 1; rock pigeon 243; mourning dove 204; barn owl 1; eastern screech-owl 7; great horned owl 4; belted kingfisher 16.
Also, red-bellied woodpecker 66; yellow-bellied sapsucker 29; downy woodpecker 54; hairy woodpecker 7; northern flicker 23; pileated woodpecker 20; eastern phoebe 18; blue jay 230; American crow 996; fish crow 11; common raven 20; blackcapped chickadee 4; Carolina chickadee 135; tufted titmouse 143; red-breasted nuthatch 1; white-breasted nuthatch 89; brown creeper 1; Carolina wren 111; winter wren 8; golden-crowned kinglet 12; ruby-crowned kinglet 5.
Also, eastern bluebird 136; hermit thrush 32; American robin 1,944; northern mockingbird 58; European starling 1,679; cedar waxwing 124; yellow-rumped warbler 170; eastern towhee 21; chipping sparrow 1; field sparrow 16; fox sparrow 3; song sparrow 92; swamp sparrow 3; white-throated sparrow 268; white-crowned sparrow 31; dark-eyed junco 133; northern cardinal 189; red-winged blackbird 20; eastern meadowlark 10; common grackle 9; rusty blackbird 2; brownheaded cowbird 23; purple finch 7; house finch 77; American goldfinch 120; and house sparrow 4.
