Pierre Christmas Bird Count - 2002

The 33rd annual Pierre Christmas bird count was conducted on Saturday, Dec. 21. Sixty-six species of birds were found during the twenty-four hour count period. A total of 17,401 individual birds were recorded in the count area, which is limited to a 7.5 mile radius from the capitol building. There were sixteen participants in this year's count, which is sponsored by the Missouri Breaks Chapter of the National Audubon Society.

The National Audubon Society Christmas bird counts began in 1900 and have since grown to about 1700 individual Christmas bird counts in all fifty states, every Canadian province, parts of Central and South America, Bermuda, the West Indies, and many Pacific Islands. An estimated 44,000 volunteers will participate in this year's counts. The annual counts reveal interesting and scientifically useful information on the early-winter distribution patterns of various bird species and the overall health of the environment.

Highlights of the count were a Lincoln's Sparrow, 3 Cardinals, 26 Franklin's Gulls, Thayer's Gull, and 33 Eurasian Collared Doves.

Count participants (16): Ricky Olson, Noah Olson, Kenny Miller, Doug Backlund, Beverly Lewis, Dave Ode, Wally Larson, Jim Stein, Ardis Townsend, Lorna Dubois, Carrol Hanten, Charles Sisk, Rosemary Quigley, H. Harryman, Rex Riis, and Richard McEntaffer.

Weather: min 17F.; max. 24F.; some light snow after dark but basically no precip, no snow cover, wind NW 10-20 (sometimes gusty) most of the day. 662 miles (49 hrs) by car; 23 miles (21 hrs.) on foot; 2.5 hrs.owling (unproductive, too windy), 3.5 hrs. feeder watching.

10000 Canada Goose 23 Snow Goose 5000 Mallard 3 American Wigeon 2 Gadwall 1 Northern Pintail 1 Canvasback 5 Redhead 19 Lesser Scaup 1 Greater Scaup 53 Common Goldeneye 1 Hooded Merganser 112 Common Merganser 1 Red Breasted Merganser 2 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 Northern Goshawk 6 Red-tailed Hawk 1 Ferruginous Hawk 3 Rough-legged Hawk 5 Golden Eagle Bald Eagle 26 Adult 9 Immatures CW Gyrfalcon 3 Merlin 2 American Kestrel 1 Sharp-tailed Grouse 21 Wild Turkey 70 Ring-necked Pheasant 23 American Coot 1 Thayer's Gull 30 Herring Gull 26 Franklin's Gull 13 Ring-billed Gull 45 Rock Dove 33 Eurasian Collared Dove 8 Great Horned Owl 2 Long-eared Owl CW Northern Saw-whet Owl CW Belted Kingfisher

10 Northern Flicker 1 Yellow Shafted 8 Red-bellied Woodpecker 2 Hairy Woodpecker 17 Downy Woodpecker 101 Horned Lark 5 Blue Jay 9 Black-billed Magpie 3 American Crow 65 Black-capped Chickadee 13 White-breasted Nuthatch 2 Red-breasted Nuthatch 1 Townsend's Solitaire 197 American Robin 5 Brown Creeper 4 Golden-crowned Kinglet 168 Cedar Waxwing 2 Northern Shrike 390 Starling 244 House Sparrow 1 Red-winged Blackbird 3 Common Grackle 1 Rusty Blackbird CW Brewer's Blackbird 3 Northern Cardinal 1 Purple Finch 22 House Finch 174 American Goldfinch CW Pine Siskin 22 Dark-eyed Junco 1 Oregon 23 Slate-colored 116 American Tree Sparrow 233 Lapland Longspur 1 Field Sparrow 1 Lincoln's Sparrow CW White-throated Sparrow 17401 INDIVIDUALS 66 SPECIES + 6 Count Week Doug Backlund Pierre, SD

For information on participating in upcoming Christmas bird counts, call Doug Backlund, count coordinator, at 954-0511. Persons interested in birds and birdwatching are encouraged to attend meetings of the Missouri Breaks Chapter. Each meeting features a bird of the month presentation and an interesting program.