Photo: CBC participants in the morning fog, Deapesh Misra
Phil Silas, Compiler
The conditions were not auspicious for the 42nd annual Manassas-Bull Run Christmas Bird Count, but the results still broke some records! Ninety-eight birders counted 21,767 birds of 78 species in this 15-mile diameter circle on December 17, 2023. There were 34 parties of field observers led by experts. The teams included birders of all skill levels, and one feeder-watcher. A thick fog slowed bird sightings early in the day, and skies remained overcast all day with rain becoming steady in early afternoon.
White-throated Sparrow, Phillip Kenny
Red-headed Woodpecker, Seth Honig
The biggest surprise was that we observed 12 species in numbers that broke the record for the highest numbers set on any of the 41 previous counts. Species with new high totals, in taxonomic order, were Great Blue Heron (38), Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (91), Pileated Woodpecker (83), Northern Flicker (219), Carolina Wren (534), Gray Catbird (4), Brown Thrasher (4), Hermit Thrush (66), White-throated Sparrow (1,649), Swamp Sparrow (40), and Eastern Towhee (91). We observed no rare species, and we counted several species in just one sector. These included White-crowned Sparrow and Pine Warbler in Sector 1; American Black Duck and Common Merganser in Sector 3; Ring-necked Duck, Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck, and Eastern Phoebe in Sector 4; Double-crested Cormorant in Sector 5; and Wood Duck, Northern Harrier, American Tree Sparrow, and Eastern Meadowlark in Sector 6. Two of the record-breaking Brown Thrashers were sighted in Sector 2.
Some other notable numbers included, the 1,706 Cedar Waxwings that were just 30 short of the record set in 2007; 4,010 American Robins, which seemed to be everywhere; and 4 Barred Owls.
Of course, a big thank you goes to all who participated, especially my fellow sector leaders Robin Duska Huff, Greg Butcher, Dixie Sommers, Toby Hardwick, and Robert Mocko. Robert led Sector 6 for the first time and did very well thanks in part to Steve Johnson’s giving us plenty of notice and smoothing the transition. A special thanks goes to Dixie Sommers for leading Sector 4 for the past seven years. She’s handing Sector 4 off to a new leader for 2024. It’s not too early to mark your calendars for the 43rd count on Sunday, December 15, 2024.
The spreadsheet with all the data by sector is linked here.