Homer birders can join the 106th year of the annual bird count by showing up at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at the Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center. The count runs until 4:30 p.m.
Birders are organized into teams and spread out in the Homer count circle, a 15-mile area centering on the base of the Homer Spit, and extending roughly from Fritz Creek to the east and Diamond Ridge to the west. Last year 15 participants identified 63 different species, tying the previous records of species seen, said Dave Erikson, one of the count organizers, and a longtime participant.
Nationally, in December 2004, counts were held in 2,022 locations with 56,000 people participating and 70 million birds counted, according to the Audubon Society. The Christmas Bird Count began in 1900 as an alternative to “side hunts,” a Christmas Day activity in which hunters competed to see who could shoot the most birds and small mammals.
Last year, 16,000 birds were counted in the Homer count area, with 3,764 mallard ducks leading the numbers. Also in high numbers were rock sandpipers, 3,085; greater scaups, 1,237; and northwestern crows, 565. Rare birds last year were short-tailed shearwaters, seen for the first time in a Christmas bird count, and Wilson’s warblers. Only one Bohemian waxwing was seen in 2004, but Erikson said there have been reports of Bohemian and some cedar waxwings this year.
“It’s always interesting to see something unusual,” he said. “You put that many eyes out on one particular day, and a lot of times you do come up with an odd one.”
Participants should dress warmly and bring binoculars, spotting scopes and field guides, Erikson said. For more information, call Erikson at 235-7260 or 235-3487. The Audubon Web site at www.audubon.org also has links to historic reports for the Homer bird count area.
Michael Armstrong can be reached at michael.armstrong@homernews.com.
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