Over a dozen local bird watchers gathered at the Hy-Vee Deli Saturday morning to coordinate the 2019 Christmas Bird Count.

A 15-mile-wide circle is drawn around New Ulm with the intersection of Center Street and Broadway at the middle point. This encompasses a 176.63 square mile area, which includes Flandrau State Park, Clear Lake, St. George, Essig, New Ulm, Courtland, Searles, Klossner, and the western edge of Swan Lake.

New Ulm is popular for bird watching because of the Cottonwood and Minnesota Rivers. The Minnesota River is a flyway. Birds migrate along its route making it a good place to spot birds.

The Christmas count is an annual tradition that goes back over a hundred years. Bird count coordinator Elaine Poulson said in the 1800s the tradition was to hunt the birds, but by the 1900s there was a push for conservation.

Staff photo by Clay Schuldt A lone eagle flys over the open water of the Cottonwood River, Saturday. The annual Christmas Bird Count typically spots a few eagles. The record is 21.

Several Minnesota communities host bird counts near Christmas, but New Ulm has been fortunate to maintain regular participation and keep the census organized.

New Ulm began regularly participating in the bird count during the mid-1980s after Mark Tacke ran an ad in local newspapers to gain interest. The number of birders participating has changed over the years.

Poulson remembers times when only three birders attended, but in recent years at least a dozen have helped with the count. Another half dozen our monitoring bird feeders within New Ulm. All the data will be compiled

Poulson said she grew up as a farm girl who noticed birds, but later she moved near the Cottonwood River. After placing feeders and seeing the variety of birds, Poulson became interested.

Mary Schroeder began participating in the bird count as a high schooler. She saw an ad in the newspaper and kept doing it through college.

“I like watching birds,” she said.

It is also a low-cost hobby. All that is needed is a pair of binoculars and the motivation to search for feathered friends.

The goal of the bird count is to track trends in bird species. The count and type of birds changes based on a variety of factors. It is always exciting to see a unique bird.

Poulson and Schroeder said last year they were excited to report the spotting of the winter wren, which is not typically seen in the New Ulm area.

Schroeder said New Ulm had a high number of robins spotted during the 2018 count.

Poulson said bluebirds are rare to see because they are usually summer birds. Kingfishers are not uncommon this time of year, but without open water, they will fly south. The same is true of ducks, but waterfowl are sometimes found during the Christmas count.

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.