Every bird counts
Volunteers participate in Christmas season survey
![](https://ogden_images.s3.amazonaws.com/www.marshallindependent.com/images/2024/12/16205953/bird-count-copy-630x840.jpg)
Photo by Sariah Cheadle Volunteer Beth Collins keeps a lookout for birds during a bird count on Saturday at Camden State Park.
Marshall birders joined thousands of other bird enthusiasts across North America on the opening of the Christmas Bird Count on Saturday, noting every bird they saw in a 177 square mile circle located just south of the center of Lyon County.
This bird count is a rather long standing Christmas tradition getting its start in 1900. It is also the longest running survey run by citizens in the world.
Started by Frank Chapman as an effort to end the then popular Christmas “side hunt” where family members and friends would gather, split into sides and try to kill the most number of animals, the Christmas Bird Count takes place every year between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5, and — as the name suggest — participants count every bird they see, naming its species in the process.
This data is then used by scientists and hobbyists alike to gauge how birds and their ecosystems are doing and how they’ve changed over time.
“I’m just getting enjoyment, but if I can participate in a manner like this and help science, that’s even better,” volunteer counter Beth Collins said as she walked through Camden State Park on the lookout for any flutter of wings.
As Saturday was quite overcast and misty, the birds were a bit quiet and still.
“Typically in the winter you work harder for the birds” said Collins. “They like to hide away, and I don’t blame them.”
Another volunteer, Paul Egeland, shared that he walked for about two hours through Garvin Park and only spotted five birds.
Each bird count area part area spans a 15 mile diameter circle. Each circle meant to get a good variety in habitats, and therefore in bird species.
The Lyon County bird count includes Marshall, Camden State Park, and Garvin County Park, and several wildlife management areas.
Each birder walked about two miles through the wooded areas. In Camden State Park, Collins drives the main road and then pulls over to walk a path, pausing specifically over waterways and scanning for open water, where, she says you’re more likely to see birds.
But mostly the birders drive down country lanes, around cemeteries which are favorite haunts of birds, with the windows down, eyes and ears peeled.
They might pull over quickly, whip out the binoculars and take a look or snap a picture if they can. Sometimes even chasing down a bird — anticipating where it’ll go — to take a closer look.
“The goal is to count every bird you can identify…If you can identify the sound, you can count the bird,” Collins said.
She has been counting birds in the Marshall area for about 20 years, contributing to the count in about 5 or 6 counties each year, including Lyon, Cottonwood, Pipestone, Redwood, Lac qui Parle, and Yellow Medicine.
Her territory Saturday was west of Highway 23 and south of Highway 19.
By lunch time Collins has identified 17 species of birds, just one or two of each — other than a flock of about 300 starlings.
“Those are hard to count. You kind of just go ‘oh, that’s about 20’ and then multiply from there,” Collins said.
Marshall birders have been joining the Christmas Bird Count since 1970 when Henry Kyllingstad, Southwest State University (now SMSU) professor, took up the charge.
Egeland has participated in the Christmas Bird Count every year since it started in Marshall.
But that’s not where he got his start. He’s done the one in Cottonwood since he started it in 1964 — missing only the 1968 count when he was in Vietnam, making this year his 60th anniversary of doing the Christmas Bird count.
He’s been birding since he was 18, and now at 81, he’s still at it and knows all the places you’ll find different birds in the area.
“It fluctuates over the years. When we lost all those elm trees, woodpeckers moved in, when the new growth came in, the woodpeckers went back down to normal levels,” Collins said.
The three birders took a break for lunch at the Hitching Post and reported their findings so far. All agreed that the misty fog was keeping the birds at bay.
Last year a record number of 83,183 birders across North America, including 63,657 n the U.S. During that three week period, they counted over 40,000,000 birds.