December 19, 2005
Columbia Estuary Christmas Count
The Columbia Estuary Christmas Bird Count was conducted yesterday under bright clear skies and a 35mph east wind. We've been experiencing a weird unseasonable high pressure system that's been generating below normal temperatures and a nasty east wind. The temperature at the airport was 19°F. Trees were falling down over normally passable roads. Not the typical weather for this time of year. As a result, we couldn't hear anything. Most birds decided to find a quiet place out of the wind and hide. We only managed 119 species.
The best bird of the count was probably the EMPEROR GOOSE which turned up at Hammond Boat Basin about a week ago. The very tame and easy to find HERMIT WARBLER was also pretty cool. A RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD, at Bucky's house was also an out of season surprise.
And there are still plenty of SNOWY OWLS around, 5 by this morning's count.
Posted by mbalame at December 19, 2005 7:10 PM