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West Marion bird count a great success
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Location: Blogs Now We're Talking |
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| Posted by: Joe Byrnes |
1/12/2007 8:29 PM |
“Fantastic!” That’s how Norm Lantz, compiler of the new West Marion County bird count circle, described its first-ever participation last Thursday in the National Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count.
Lantz, an expert birder, is with the Unique Birders at On Top of the World. Club members and other volunteers took part in the bird count.
The 54 or so volunteers in 14 teams counted 12,049 birds and 109 species on that day in the 15-mile-wide circle, which includes much of the State Road 200 corridor and the Dunnellon area.
A burrowing owl and Northern bobwhites were later added to the list of species, bringing it to 111.
Lantz said he was surprised by the huge number of robins counted last Thursday – 3,196.
Yellow-rumped warblers were the second-most numerous, with 701 being counted.
Turkey vultures, American crows, red-winged blackbirds and chipping sparrows were also very common.
Four bald eagles were sighted: one each on the Rainbow River, on the Withlacoochee, at OTOW and in the area of Rainbow Springs and Rainbow Lakes Estates.
Next year, Lantz hopes to include more “feeder counters” – people who count the birds in their back yards. That can be tricky, though, because inaccuracy is often a problem, as people watching their feeders may find themselves counting the same bird more than once.
Congratulations to all involved on the beginning of a new birding tradition in Marion County. |
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