Red-winged Blackbird. Photo courtesy of Matt Wetrich

 

With the National Audubon Society’s Annual Christmas Bird Count returning for the year, many people will be watching for birds on December 14th.

Iowa Department of Natural Resources Interpretive Naturalist and Educator Anne Riordan says that the Jamaica Circle will be doing their count next Wednesday. She points out that last year the organization counted 61 species and 13,400 individual birds. She notes there were a few unexpected, but greatly appreciated sightings last year, when the group identified a snowy owl and a golden eagle. Riordan tells Raccoon Valley Radio that the birds that are usually spotted are more common for the area.

“There’s going to be a lot of sparrows. There’s going to be blue birds, and we’ll see robins. I know people think robins are just a springtime bird, but we’ll see robins. We’ll see, oh golly I think we saw 58 bald eagles last year. So it’s kind of cool to think that that’s one of our common birds, because that hasn’t always been the case.”

Riordan mentions that waterfowl make up the largest number of birds that the Jamaica Circle counts. She adds that Canadian geese, and several species of duck can be found at the different waterways, including part of Lake Panorama, Lakin Slough, and a few other large bodies of water. Riordan says that about four kinds of doves are commonly counted in Yale as well.