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Audubon enthusiasts count birds

Every bird counts during the annual Christmas bird count. This woodpecker was spotted at Flandrau State Park. Staff photo by Clay Schuldt

NEW ULM — Just as the early bird gets the worm, the early Audubon enthusiast will spot the most birds.

A dozen local bird watchers met early Saturday morning to take part in the annual Christmas bird count.

Organizer Elaine Poulson said they had an excellent turnout for the bird count this year. In past years they only had three counters for the New Ulm area, so 12 was a strong showing.

High participation was likely due to weather. The sun was out and temperatures held in the low 40s with little to no wind.

The birders met at Hy-Vee to determine which areas around New Ulm would be surveyed for bird life. In New Ulm, the birders conducted their count in a 15-mile-wide circle from the intersection of Center Street and Broadway. This area encompasses Flandrau State Park, Clear Lake, St. George, Essig, New Ulm, Courtland, Searles, Klossner, and the western edge of Swan Lake.

Brian Smith, a birding expert from Sleepy Eye, said the idea of the annual bird count is to obtain population estimates for the various species.

Similar counts are being conducted across Minnesota and in other states. The bird count data collected on Sunday will be sent to the Minnesota Ornithological Union (MOU) and the National Audubon Society.

The bird count is one method for nature conservationists to collect information.

Local birder Ellen Vancura said the tradition was over a hundred years old and originally began as a Christmas bird hunt.

“The tradition used to be to shoot the birds,” Vancura said. “But then the passenger pigeon went extinct and it changed to a bird count.”

Vancura said she became interested in bird watching after seeing a scarlet tanager on a property in Cass County.

“I had lived in Minnesota for years but had never seen one before,” she said. “I wondered what else I have missed.”

Smith said he was always interested in birding because it was an activity you could do alone but you could also join others.

Smith and Brad Bouldan searched the Cottonwood River Bridge area near Adams Park early in the morning. They had hopes to spot a fisher king by the bridge. The opening water makes it a top birding spot. While there was no fisher king at this location, they did spy a bald eagle, a downy woodpecker and a blue jay among a few other common birds.

Smith said this time of year the most common birds sighted in Minnesota are house sparrows and starlings, though area birders were commenting on an unusually high number of robins sighted in the last few days.

The full data for this year’s bird count will be released at a later date. Last year 32 different bird species were reported by birders in the New Ulm area, which included three species of owl: snowy owl, great horned owl and eastern screech owl.

These numbers change every year depending on several factors including weather and availability of habitat.

For more information on Christmas bird counts visit the Audubon website at birds.audubon.org/christmas-bird-count. The website is updated each year by county.

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