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JACKSON AUDUBON SOCIETY CHRISTMAS COUNTS PAGE

Christmas Bird Count (CBC)

The Jackson Audubon Society conducts an annual Christmas Bird Count each December, as part or the National Audubon count.  Our count area is the Waterloo State Recreation Area, centered on the corner of Mt. Hope and Seymour Rd.

Count Area Map

Latest (2007/2008) CBC Results for our area

Data retrieval/analysis system from National Audubon Christmas Bird Count

JAS Waterloo Area Christmas Bird Count Circle Map

The area covers a six mine radius centered on the intersection of Mount Hope Road and Seymour Road in Jackson County Michigan (42.3167 degrees North x -84.2167 degrees West) .  The count area area also encompasses part of western Washtenaw County.

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ACCESSING CBC DATA FROM NAS DATABASE

National Audubon Christmas Bird Count Page at  http://www.audubon.org/bird/cbc/ can be used to learn more about the CBC and view current and historic counts data. You can do your own data retrieval and analysis selecting count areas, species and/or years. 

History currently goes through the last count (2006/2007).You can look at the data, down load it, obtain charts an maps, and plot changes in population over the years. and over multiple count areas.  Detailed instructions for historical data for our count area are as follows.

• Go to he National Audubon Christmas Bird Count Historical Results Page at  http://www.audubon.org/bird/cbc/hr/index.html

• To analyze data by count circles, click the "By Count Circle" button near the bottom of the page.
• To gat to the Waterloo count area, in n Step 1 "OPTION A: STATE OR PROVINCE" select Michigan from the drop down list.
• Click on the "Find Count" button.
• In In Step 2"ADD SELECTED CBC COUNT CODE TO YOUR QUERY"  scroll down to find and then click on "waterloo state recreation area [MWA]"
• Then click the  "Add" button.
• In Step 3 "SELECT DATE RANGE" Select thestart and end dates oof the count or counts you want to look at. 
• Then click on the "MAKE A TABLE" button on the right side. 
• A table with the count data you requested will now be displayed.
• NOTE: In Step 2 you can select other states, or other count areas than Waterloo, if you want to view other areas.  If you want to combine areas, you can select and add multiple areas.

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2007/2008 WATERLOO AREA CBC Results

       We had 35 field observers and several feeder watchers participating. This is a report of some of the highlights plus a full list of species below.
       Highlights: Two immature White-crowned Sparrows were found for only the third count record. A single White-crowned was recorded in both 1977 and 2005. This species is a regular fall and spring migrant, but an uncommon winter visitor to our area. Three other species were counted in record high numbers; 1465 Sandhill Cranes, 91 Red-bellied Woodpeckers and 302 Northern Cardinals. The old records were 1107 Sandhills in 1998, 55 Red-bellieds in 2003 and 273 Cardinals in 1996. The majority of the Sandhill Cranes observed were coming to a night roost near the sharp corner on Dalton Road
       A few interesting species seen that are not recorded on most counts were; 1 Bald Eagle, 1 Red-shouldered Hawk, 2 Rough-legged Hawks, 1 Barred Owl, 1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, 2 Pileated Woodpeckers, 1 Northern Shrike, 1 Carolina Wren, 2 Hermit Thrushes, 2 Lapland Longspurs, 6 Snow Buntings, 39 Common Redpolls, and 2 Pine Siskins.   
       The following is a list of species whose count was higher than average. The numbers in parentheses are the average counts for that species in the ten year period from 1997 - 2006: 1139 Canada Geese (585), 118 Wild Turkeys (76), 5 Great Blue Herons (2), 536 Blue Jays (332), 455 American Crows (356), 11 Red-breasted Nuthatches (4), 1683 European Starlings (750), 389 Cedar Waxwings (206), 472 Dark-eyed Juncos (354), and 1065 House Sparrows (731).
       Some species were recorded in lower than average numbers: 1 Ring-necked Pheasant (8), 109 Rock Pigeons (252), 417 Mourning Doves (714), 59 Eastern Bluebirds (123), 6 Purple Finches (49), and 129 House Finches (189).
       Other species were noteworthy by their absence on count day: There were no swans of any species and the only ducks observed were American Black Duck and Mallard. Ruffed Grouse, which has been recorded on 20 of our 39 counts, was missed. Neither Red-winged Blackbirds nor Common Grackles made a showing. Two Brown-headed Cowbirds were the only representatives from the Icterid family.
       The 40th Waterloo Recreation Area CBC will be held on Saturday, December20th, 2008. Be sure to mark your calendars!!

Don & Robyn Henise, Waterloo Area Count Cmpilers

Back to Latest (2007/2008) CBC Results  for our area

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