Nineteen area students and their teachers braved the blustery winter day Monday, Dec. 18, to participate in the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count, covering several parts of Preble County. Students participating in the activity included Kiki Allison, Caden Bishop, Alayna Brush, Laiden Carver, Brylii Day, Matthew DeHart, Clint Gross, Wes Hager, Mackenzie Kaiser, Kara McCoy, Lainey Mercer, Logan Mershon, Rylee Ray, Karsyn Roell, Tyler Thuma, Jace Thuma, Aiden White, Clayton Woodgeard, Emily Zinn. Teachers Catherine Ackerman and Melissa Rieger participated with their students.
PREBLE COUNTY — Nineteen area students and their teachers braved the blustery winter day Monday, Dec. 18, to participate in the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count, covering several parts of Preble County.
The students were joined by Audubon compiler, Daryl Michael. Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count is one of the longest-running wildlife censuses in the world. Each individual count takes place over the course of 24 hours, in a 15-mile-wide circle, and is led by a compiler responsible for organizing volunteers and submitting observations directly to Audubon.
Within each circle, participants tally all birds seen or heard that day — both the species count and the total numbers of each, to provide a clear idea of the health of that particular population. The count takes place annually between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5.
The students were met with temperatures which topped out at 36 degrees and fell throughout the day, cloudy to partly-cloudy skies with intermittent snow squalls and grapple. Winds were at 10-15 mph with larger gusts at times.
Birds counted in various areas included: Rush Run — 15 golden crowned kinglets, one blue jay, two Northern cardinal, three mourning doves (on the power lines on the drive in,) 10 white-throated sparrows, two American crow, two killdeer (in the field on the drive in,) and two American kestrel (on the power lines on the drive in;) Preble County Landfill — 200-plus ring-billed seagulls, three American crow, and 200-plus European starlings; Preble County Historical Society — five Canada geese, five American crow, three Eastern towhee, 10 Northern cardinal, two red-bellied woodpecker, six blue jay, 12 dark-eyed junco and one Carolina chickadee (at the feeder.)
Students participating in the activity included Kiki Allison, Caden Bishop, Alayna Brush, Laiden Carver, Brylii Day, Matthew DeHart, Clint Gross, Wes Hager, Mackenzie Kaiser, Kara McCoy, Lainey Mercer, Logan Mershon, Rylee Ray, Karsyn Roell, Tyler Thuma, Jace Thuma, Aiden White, Clayton Woodgeard, Emily Zinn. Teachers Catherine Ackerman and Melissa Rieger participated with their students.
