Matt and I participated in a couple of Christmas Bird Counts (CBC) in our area this past month. The first was a new CBC that Matt participated in a trial run of last year, near Vernon, FL. We left the house EARLY and started owling our section around 5:45. We did actually hear a pair of barred owls so at least the early start was worth it! We spent the rest of the day driving around our section, wandering around the few public areas we could. Unfortunately, our section consists mainly of inaccessible private lands, which made it difficult to spend the entire day surveying. We did find a few good hot spots though, and we ended our day with 41 species and over 700 individuals (not great, I know). There were several common species missing, and we didn’t see large flocks of robins and other species as would be expected. Our species list can be viewed below.
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18 turtle shells found around a cypress swamp complex
near Vernon, FL. |
The most interesting findings during the Vernon bird count were actually turtle shells. Lots of them. Our section had a large cypress swamp system, but only one pond was public. We walked around the pond in the morning, hoping to scare up some cool birds. Instead, I found one very large river cooter shell and one slider shell. We chalked it up to good luck and continued birding the remainder of our section. In the early afternoon, however, we were driving on the north side of the swamp when Matt thought he spotted another turtle shell just off the road. I went in to investigate and found yet another shell before I reached the first one! Within 10 minutes, we found over 20 shells (river cooters and sliders) around the margins of the swamp. Of course, my first thought was harvesting by people, but most of the shells were intact, and there were no bullet holes either. My second theory was that we had such a cold winter last year, maybe these turtles froze under water when the water levels were higher. However, a fellow conservationist suggested that it was actually raccoon depredation as the water levels dropped. He said he has found hundreds of shells just as we described and with little to no scratch marks. This was a very disturbing thing to find, and any other theories are most welcome. I thought it was so cool when I found the first cooter shell, but by the end of the day, it was just depressing.
Great Blue Heron
Black Vulture
Wood Duck
Red-Shouldered Hawk
American Kestrel
Killdeer
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Barred Owl
Red-Bellied Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe
White-Eyed Vireo
Blue-Headed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Brown Creeper
Carolina Wren
Winter Wren
Ruby-Crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Orange-Crowned Warbler
Yellow-Rumped Warbler
Pine Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-Throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Red-Winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Brewer’s Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-Headed Cowbird
American Goldfinch
Look for the second CBC in Part 2, coming soon!
