RESULTS of the CLERMONT CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT
JANUARY 5, 2019
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"A Snowy Egret seen during the 2019 Clermont Christmas Bird Count"
photo: Joyce Stenfancic
See more of her photographs in the
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Forty nine awesome birders closed out the 2018-2019 Christmas Bird Count Season with a bang yesterday in Clermont!
In total, we tallied 124 species for the day, and four new species for the count:
Royal Tern, Purple Martin, Barn Swallow and Rusty Blackbird.
This year's 124 species is our third highest total in the Clermont CBC history. We have found 162 species total over the past seven years.
Other highlights included Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Common Loon, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Glossy Ibis, Snail Kite, Purple Gallinule, Limpkin, Least Sandpiper, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Bonaparte’s Gull, Caspian Tern, Common Ground-Dove, Eastern Screech-Owl, Great Horned Owl, Barred Owl, Red-headed Woodpecker, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Western Kingbird, Florida Scrub-Jay, Carolina Chickadee, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Sedge Wren, Marsh Wren, Hermit Thrush, Cedar Waxwing, Ovenbird, American Redstart, Northern Parula, Grasshopper Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Indigo Bunting, Painted Bunting, Eastern Meadowlark and Baltimore Oriole.
John Thomton thanks all who came out and birded!
A special shout-out goes to Bruce and Cathy Brown at the Scrub-Jay Trail
for being such gracious, generous and fun hosts!
We couldn’t do it without you!!
The final applause goes to Carrabba's
for their generous sponsorship in support of this important event.
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Prior to the turn of the 20th century, hunters engaged in a holiday tradition known as the Christmas "Side Hunt." They would choose sides and go afield with their guns—whoever brought in the biggest pile of feathered (and furred) quarry won.
Conservation was in its beginning stages in that era, and many observers and scientists were becoming concerned about declining bird populations. Beginning on Christmas Day 1900, ornithologist Frank M. Chapman, an early officer in the then-nascent Audubon Society, proposed a new holiday tradition—a "Christmas Bird Census" that would count birds during the holidays rather than hunt them.
So began the Christmas Bird Count. Thanks to the inspiration of Chapman and the enthusiasm of 27 dedicated birders, 25 Christmas Bird Counts were held that day. The locations ranged from Toronto, Ontario, to Pacific Grove, California, with most counts in or near the population centers of northeastern North America. Those original 27 Christmas Bird Counters tallied around 90 species on all the counts combined.
Today, From December 14 through January 5 each year, tens of thousands of volunteers throughout the Americas brave snow, wind, or rain, and take part in the effort. Audubon and other organizations use data collected in this long-running wildlife census to assess the health of birdpopulations, and to help guide conservation action.
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