Natural notes: Fall bird count at Lake Artemesia Natural Area

One thing birdwatchers like to do is count birds.  Counting birds, though, is not just an arbitrary pastime of avian fanatics, but is in fact an important citizen science project that assists professional wildlife biologists with the tracking and monitoring of the national and global distribution and abundance of the planet's bird life.  The following  is a list of bird species (common names) and their count that I and another volunteer conducted this morning:

Date:  September 22, 2013
Time:  9am-10:45am
Location:  Lake Artemesia and adjacent portion of Indian Creek Trail (see Map 1)
Weather conditions:  ~65 F, Clear skies, NW Wind at ~7mph
Weather past 24 hours:  Showers, ~70 degrees F, calm wind
Habitat:  Woods, streams, open shallow water, wetlands, swamps, old fields

Blue Jay: 4
American Crow: 2
Common Grackle:  1
Gray Catbird:  6
Northern Cardinal: 6
European Starling: 8
American Robin: 16
Carolina Wren: 1
Downy Woodpecker: 3
Yellow-bellied flycatcher (we are fairly confident about this one): 1
Canada Geese:  70 (these were hard to count)
Northern Mockingbird: 9
Carolina Chickadee: 2
Brown-headed cowbird: 2
Brown Thrasher: 1
Great-crested flycatcher: 1



Map 1:  Site location
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