Madison Christmas Bird Count

Saturday marked the 68th annual Madison Area Christmas Bird Count held during an uncharacteristically warm winter day with temps rising to the upper 40s.

The Madison Area Christmas Bird Count circle (Madison, WI)

If you think it was easy to figure out online what anniversary this was for the Madison CBC as we know the circle today, think again. The Madison Audubon Society (MAS) page offered no such history nor could I find any reference online to the inaugural count. I did find a few interesting nuggets during my search including an article about the history of Wisconsin CBCs presumably written around 1965. Note the "ad" on page 60...

But back to 2017's Madison CBC (verified with my friend Aaron and MAS to have been number 68). I've participated in this count at least fifteen times and perhaps that number is closer to twenty. I believe I got involved with the count around 1998 or 1999 shortly after returning to Wisconsin after four years of nomadic living. Having missed at least one or two in years subsequent to 2000 puts me at that 15+ year mark.

I have counted most years in the coveted Area 2 along the north shore of Lake Mendota where the lake, natural areas and plenty of feeders make for interesting counting. I have also counted in Area 21 for a single year which encompasses a good portion of Pheasant Branch Conservancy as well as the northwest corner of Lake Mendota. Again counting can be quite good in Area 21 since it offers great habitat and potential for some CBC gold. And then there's Area 19 where I counted this year. My specific section is outlined in red in the image below.

My assigned portion of Madison CBC Area 19

Hello concrete jungle. Snore. Well not entirely. Among the vast paved areas and numerous buildings was a small nature preserve within Oakwood Village and some green space in University of Wisconsin's Research Park. So my count yielded a few gems. However, this was the first time I completed a CBC alone. That, in and of itself, set me up for boredom when we are talking about counting every House Finch, American Goldfinch and every mundane bird in one's path (yes birds such as House Sparrows are MUNDANE) with no human interaction to break up the periods of monotony. However I wanted to try a new area and explore some locations closer to my house. Plus SOMEONE has to count in the less desirable areas of the count circle. And the lure of a possible CBC rarity even in the less desirable areas keeps me repeating this exercise in citizen science.

My Results:
I started the day at 6 a.m. owling for the first hour. Winds were calm, but I heard no owls despite stopping at promising locations around the Crestwood Neighborhood and Oakwood Village. My daylight birding began at the Oakwood Village Nature Preserve which proved to be the best birding of the day along with the immediately adjacent Research Park Prairie that abuts the east side of Oakwood Village. Upon entering the trails I spied this rabbit's head, a harbinger of the next bird I would find.

Hmm...perhaps the remains of last night's meal for a Great Horned Owl? I looked about 30 feet to my west at two large pines and quickly spotted the party likely responsible for this decapitation.

Great Horned Owl, Oakwood Village, Madison, Dane Co 16Dec2017

A Cooper's Hawk was keeping most of the nearby feeders virtually vacant. However I did stumble upon one active feeder which yielded my only White-throated Sparrow of the day.

White-throated Sparrow, Oakwood Village, Dane Co, 16Dec2017
(I guess I cannot go as high as I thought on the iso on my new 7D Mark ii)

Otherwise the 4.5 hours of counting was dominated by House Finches and American Goldfinches.

This is not the CBC gold you were looking for...Male House Finch

My hike around the Research Park Prairie was nearly a bust with a single American Tree Sparrow and a handful of other birds. Mostly IT WAS QUIET.

University Research Park prairie. Madison, WI

But as I rounded the bend almost back to the northeast-most parking area of Oakwood Village, I spied a Northern Shrike. Maybe not true CBC gold, but highly rated in my opinion. This is one of my favorite species I look forward to seeing during Wisconsin winters. I settled for a distant photo since this particular shrike was not nearly as confiding as the one I visited on many occasions last winter. I watched for a good twenty minutes as it flew perch to perch before it decided to duck out in some shrubs. I was happy to discover a new shrike territory. When I got to my car, I looked back to where I had seen the shrike. Sure enough it had resumed a conspicuous perch once I left the area.

Northern Shrike, Research Park Prairie, Dane Co, WI 16Dec2017

I completed my count section with an unimpressive 21 species. Woohoo! This was the shortest duration of Christmas bird counting I've done and the most concrete I have ever counted among. But an owl and shrike will make me smile any day. Otherwise I took away the lesson to definitely include some socialization in all future counts. I missed counting with my usual partners who once again did Area 2. We shall see what next year brings...