Texoma Connect

Enthusiasts with any level of birding experience can participate.in the Hagerman Circle Christmas Bird Count. This popular yearly event is organized by Austin College Ornithologist Dr. Wayne Meyer for the Hagerman Circle as part of the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count.

Lots of “eyes” are needed as the Hageman Circle Christmas Bird Count area is 15 miles in diameter. The Hagerman Christmas Bird Count will be held on December 19 from 7 am to 5 pm.  Meet at the Visitor Center at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge and each person will be assigned to a team and work for half a day or all day. Experience is not required! What we need most are eyes to help find the birds for this important data gathering effort. A light supper will be provided by Friends of Hagerman NWR at the close of the count while the count is tallied from 4 – 6 pm.

In addition Dr. Meyer will be tallying the owl count at 4:00 am for you extra early risers. There is also opportunity for home feeder watchers in these communities: Pottsboro, Sherwood Shores, Cedar Mills, Mill Creek, Locust, Fink, Tanglewood, Georgetown, Preston and Gordonville. Those who call in to register will receive event details.

There is still roughly almost 2′ of water on Wildlife Drive. You can access Harris Creek Trail, and by traveling round about  to the trail heads Meadow Pond and Haller’s Haven Trails.

History behind the modern Christmas Bird Count, according to Audubon:

“Prior to the turn of the 20th century, people engaged in a holiday tradition known as the Christmas “Side Hunt”: They would choose sides and go afield with their guns; whoever brought in the biggest pile of feathered (and furred) quarry won. Conservation was in its beginning stages around in that era, and many observers and scientists were becoming concerned about declining bird populations. Beginning on Christmas Day 1900, ornithologist Frank M. Chapman, an early officer in the then nascent Audubon Society, proposed a new holiday tradition-a “Christmas Bird Census”-that would count birds during the holidays rather than hunt them. So began the Christmas Bird Count. Thanks to the inspiration of Chapman and the enthusiasm of twenty-seven dedicated birders, twenty-five Christmas Bird Counts were held that day. The locations ranged from Toronto, Ontario to Pacific Grove, California with most counts in or near the population centers of northeastern North America. Those original 27 Christmas Bird Counters tallied around 90 species on all the counts combined.”