A Valiant Christmas
Bird Count

MADRONE AUDUBON HELD its annual Christmas Bird Count onSunday, December 29. This year 97th count held by National Audubon and the 29thcount for Madrone. As I ponder this article, three thoughts come to mind:weather, disappointment, and commitment. After waiting all year and settingaside a whole day to do what we love most, the disappointment ushered in by afull-scale storm was hard to shake. With winds blowing up to 45 miles per hourand heavy rain falling, it was obvious that we were going to have difficultymatching the count of 1995. As dedication overcame sense we settled in to thehunt and as the countdown at the potluck showed, located a good number ofspecies.

One hundred tried and tested birders bested the elements and produced sightingsof 167 species and 48,107 individuals; a remarkable effort considering thedifficulties. Of course, we must give some of the credit to the wonderfuldiversity of habitat we have within the count circle.

Two birds stand out this year. An Emperor Goose is wintering in BodegaBay. You may recall another Emperor Goose near the town of Bodega in1994. A Northern Goshawk was seen by Rick Lebaudour and two members ofhis team near the coast. This is a first for this species in our count.

Our potluck was a huge success, with ample amounts of delicious food and goodcompany. Many thanks to the supper staff for providing a warm, dry retreat.Members were Peter Leveque, Connie Joachim, George Ellman, Becky Simme, andGloria Overholt. We also held a drawing, and nest boxes and our breeding birdatlas were available for purchase. Thanks also to the teams and their leadersfor a job well done.

In 1995, 1,623 count circles participated in the USA and Canada. With 195species, we shared sixth place with two other California counts, Morro Bay andOrange County. The top count was Corpus Christi, Texas, with 227 species. Theresults of the count are sent to National Audubon Society and published in theCBC volume of the NAS publication, "Field Notes". We just received the reportof last year's count!