2014 Eugene Christmas Bird Count

  • News

Dick Lamster, Count Coordinator               541.343.8664              maeveanddick (at) q.com

American Robin spotted during the ECBC.
Photo: Cary Kerst

The 73rd Eugene Christmas Bird Count (ECBC) took place on Sunday, December 28, with 146 enthusiastic bird-watchers contributing their time and expertise in the field. From their sightings, combined with those of 90 Feeder Watchers, we recorded 133 species (plus one during Count Week) and 120,698 individual birds. The average numbers for the past 10 years are 134 species and 89,223 individual birds.

<--break->” src=”/sites/all/modules/wysiwyg/plugins/break/images/spacer.gif” title=”<--break-->“></p> <p>The participants were grouped into 26 teams, each led by an expert birder. The teams walked 116.5 miles in 162 hours. They also drove 462 miles in 70.5 hours. Four teams went owling for six and a half hours and covered 36 miles. Jim Maloney’s team (#15) had the most members with 12, followed by Bruce Newhouse (#20B) with 11 members and Dennis Arendt (#21) with 10. </p> <p>At the end of the day, 99 tired but happy birders came to the LCAS-sponsored Chili Feed to share stories about the birds they saw and to participate in the traditional countdown. Allison Mickel made 10 gallons of vegetarian chili to share with everyone. Allison was kind enough to prepare the chili well in advance because she and husband Tom planned to be at the Oregon Coast celebrating their 40<sup>th</sup> wedding anniversary on the day of the ECBC. Sandy Poinsett did a great job filling in for Allison at the Chili Feed. She was assisted by Kathy Wilson, Maeve Sowles, Wanda Manning, and Bruce Wilson to make the entire event a big success. The Chili Feed was a fun way to end a great day of birding, and everyone was proud to have contributed to the 115-year history of the National Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count.</p> <p>At the Chili Feed we remembered longtime ECBC Team Leader and expert birder Fred Chancey, who passed away a few months ago. Fred was one of those really nice guys who was always willing to share his knowledge of birds and many other interesting things. We will miss Fred.</p> <p>I personally want to thank Allison and her crew for the Chili Feed, Dan Gleason for compiling the results, Herb Wisner for coordinating the Feeder Watchers, and the 26 Team Leaders whose names appear below. Without the Team Leaders’ hard work of assembling their teams, guiding them all day, and reporting the results, the ECBC would not be the great event that it is.</p> <p>Be sure to mark Sunday, January 3, 2016 on your calendar for the 2015 ECBC. Please plan to join a team or be a Feeder Watcher for a fun, full day of birding. Your results will be entered into the 116-year record of all the Christmas Bird Counts around the continent. These data are used by scientists and researchers to study birdlife. The results of all the CBCs are available on the National Audubon Society’s website at www.christmasbirdcount.org. The code for the ECBC is OREU.</p> <p>Thanks again to all of you who participated and helped to make the 2014 ECBC one of the biggest and best in the country!</p> <p><strong>Team Leaders by Area</strong></p> <p>#1:  Ron Renchler</p> <p>#2:  Jim Carlson</p> <p>#3A:  Dan Heyerly</p> <p>#3B:  Herb Wisner</p> <p>#4:  Rich Ahrens</p> <p>#5A:  Dan Gleason</p> <p>#5B:  Alan Contreras</p> <p>#6:  Kit Larsen</p> <p>#7:  Roger Robb</p> <p>#8:  Davey Wendt</p> <p>#9:  Luke Ferrenburg</p> <p>#10:  Vjera Thompson</p> <p>#11A:  David Novak</p> <p>#11B:  Barbara Butzer</p> <p>#12A:  Steve Gordon</p> <p>#12B:  Hendrik Herlyn</p> <p>#13A:  Charlie Thomas</p> <p>#13B:  Holly Hartmann</p> <p>#14:  Dave Bontrager</p> <p>#15:  Jim Maloney</p> <p>#16:  Linda Gilbert</p> <p>#17:  John Sullivan</p> <p>#18:  Caryn Stoess</p> <p>#19:  Barbara Combs</p> <p>#20A:  Jim Regali</p> <p>#20B:  Bruce Newhouse</p> <p>#21:  Dennis Arendt</p> <p> </p> </div> <div class=

Related Posts

Habitat garden
Habitat Haven Update

Our Habitat Haven volunteers have begun site visits and been enthusiastically received. At the start…