2019 Christmas Bird Count Summary
by Gary Siegrist

Christmas Bird Count December 21, 2019

Mild weather greeted this year’s Waterloo State Recreation Area Christmas Bird Count participants held on December 21st.   With temperatures ranging from a high of 48 degrees Fahrenheit to a low of 30 degrees Fahrenheit with light winds the thirty-one volunteers were able to record 59 bird species for the day.   Still water was completely frozen and moving water partially covered over so the twelve groups were only able to find four waterfowl species.  Total party hours were 107.63. including on foot (22.80), by car (68.78), nocturnal (7.80), and at feeders (8.25). The mileage for the day by car and on foot totaled 589 miles.

Unusual sightings were Virginia Rail (1) and Ruby-crowned Kinglet (2). For only the eighth time on a CBC a Golden Eagle was spotted. High individual specie counts started with Carolina Wren (7), Pileated Woodpecker (15), White-breasted Nuthatch (184) and finished with Golden-crowned Kinglet (27) new high count for this species.

We did find four different kinds of owls; Eastern Screech (15), Great-horned (9), Barred (4), and Short-eared (3). The count of Barred and Short-eared tied their high count for the CBC. This year’s count for individual birds totals 6251.

Waterloo State Recreation Area

CBC Compiler Gary Siegrist