Feb 16, 2019 5 min read

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, over 51.3 million Americans are bird watchers, and more are taking part in the hobby time all the time.

Watching birds is one thing, but counting is something that requires a bit more effort.

The Ralph K. Bell Bird Club takes on the duties of participating in the annual national Audubon Christmas Bird Count as well as the Backyard Bird Count scheduled over a four-day period, which began Friday and continues through Monday.

“The bird counts are done to see what particular birds might be found in different areas,” said Marjorie Howard, president and founder of the Ralph K. Bell Bird Club of Greene County.

According to Howard, the results for species seen in Ryerson were slightly lower than past years. On the other hand, the figures for Clarksville were up from previous accounts.

“This winter, when it was predicted to be colder than normal, we expected to find birds like evening grosbeak, pine siskin and common redpoll from Canada overwintering in our region,” Howard said. “However, we didn’t find any evening grosbeaks or common redpolls, although I did see some pine siskin at my bird feeders.”

To accumulate their records, participants watched birds at feeders, walked the countryside and drove along the roadways. Seasonality makes a difference in the count because there’s a lot less species living in the county during the winter as opposed to the summer.

“In winter, we expect a max of 50 species of birds, but in the summer the figure is close to 120 species,” Howard said. “We also don’t get many ducks or waterfowl because there’s not much in the way of open water in the county.”

Greene County residents who may have missed the Christmas Bird Count now have a chance to get into the act through the Backyard Bird Count, which was founded by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology in 1998.

“The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is a free, fun, and easy event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of bird populations,” according to Audubon, a national bird advocacy and education society. “Participants are asked to count birds for as little as 15 minutes (or as long as they wish) on one or more days of the four-day event and report their sightings online at birdcount.org. Anyone can take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count, from beginning bird watchers to experts, and you can participate from your backyard, or anywhere in the world.”

Each checklist submitted during the GBBC helps researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society learn more about how birds are doing, and how to protect them and the environment we share. Last year, more than 160,000 participants submitted their bird observations online, creating the largest instantaneous snapshot of global bird populations ever recorded.

“Most people in the county will probably recognize cardinals, blue jays and house sparrows, but if they spot something unfamiliar they can look in a field guide,” Howard said.

Besides the Annual Christmas Bird Count, Howard also participates in the Pennsylvania Annual Migration Bird Count, held the second Saturday in May, and the Winter Raptor Survey. The Ralph K. Bell Club members also take bird watching trips to Shenango Lake, Moraine State Park and Pymatuning State Park.

Each year they also make a trek to Dolly Sods in Randolph County, West Virginia, where Bell established the Allegheny Front Migration Observatory. While there, they catch birds in a nift net (a very fine netting that doesn’t injure the birds), then band them to provide information on bird migration, range, behavior and longevity to the Bird Banding Laboratory in Maryland.

Founded in 2006, the Ralph K. Bird Club has about 60 members who pay annual dues of $15 for individuals or $25 for a family. A portion of each membership fee goes toward financing the annual $1,000 scholarship awarded by the club to a high school senior or college freshman or sophomore who writes the best essay on the winter birds of Greene County.

“There are birds in the county if you go out and look for them,” Howard said. “The trouble is we don’t have many experienced bird people who can take those wanting to learn out to teach them about local birds.”

One way to get your feet wet, so to speak, is by joining the annual Wildflower/Bird Walk at Enlow Fork in Richhill Township, held the last Sunday in May. The bird walk section starts at 8 a.m. followed by the wildflower walk at 10 a.m.

JoAnne Marshall, director of the Greene County Tourist Promotion Agency, also has some advice for residents who might want to get outdoors to bird watch.

“People can discover interesting species of birds in a variety of places in Greene County including the Greene River Trail, State Game Lands 322, and the Enlow Fork Natural Area of State Game Lands 302,” she said.

To find more information on this year’s GBBC, go online to gbbc.birdcount.org.