Western Prairie Audubon

The 2007 Bushnell Christmas Count was held on December 15.  A steady snow fall throughout the day allowed for greater numbers of snow-loving field birds such as Horned Larks, Lapland Longspurs and Snow Buntings which increased the total of individuals up 6577 from 5157 last year.  The total number of species was down 47 from a count of 51 total species in 2006.  Four parties and 6 people participated in the 2007 Bushnell Count.  Bird highlights included 31 Cackling Geese, 1 Canvasback, 1 Bald Eagle, 1 Pileated Woodpecker, 1058 Horned Lark, 2 Eastern Bluebird, 627 American Tree Sparrow, 124 Lapland Longspur, 486 Snow Bunting and 257 Eurasian Tree Sparrow.  Thanks to all that participated and special thanks to Larry Hood for serving as count coordinator and to the Hoods for the wonderful food.  Mark your calendars and join us for the 2008 count.

The Keokuk Christmas Count was held on December 17.  The total number of bird species observed was down with a preliminary count of 90 species which is average to slightly high for this count.

We don’t have a total yet for the Chautauqua Count which was held on December 22.  Preliminary results appear to be in the upper 80’s to 90 species, about average for this count.

Christmas Bird Count participants included: Dave Benson, Bob and Alice Henry, Larry Hood, Bob Montgomery, and Dan Moorehouse.

For more information on the CBC results check out the following web site: www.audubon.org.