A Northern saw-whet owl looks on. (Scot Stewart photo)

“I heard a bird sing

In the dark of December,

A magical thing,

And sweet to remember;

“We are nearer to spring

Than we are to September.”

– Oliver Herford

Darkness comes quickly at the end of each afternoon in December. How different is seems now compared to June when it seemed to be light most of the night. During those long summer days there was still a touch of blue light in the northwest until eleven at night and dawn started out the next day before five. Now there seems to be but nine hours of daylight. Only the glow of moon and starlight shining on the snow brightens the night. As the days ease through December toward the official start of winter, there is excitement about one of birding’s very special events.

Next week’s Christmas Bird Count will be Marquette’s 71st annual event. As the days count down now, interest continues to grow over what surprises will greet counters in the field and at their feeders. In Marquette, birders have found around 42 species of birds in the average count day and usually two or three more during the count week — the three days before and the three days after the Saturday of the count. In exceptional years, more than 50 different species have been found within the count area, a circle with a 7.5 mile radius centered at Old City Hall downtown, and usually divided into four quarters.

The Christmas Bird Counts have been conducted nationally since 1900. They were started by Frank Chapman of the Audubon Society as an alternative to the 19th century pastime of hunter group challenges, called the “Side Hunt,” to see who could shoot the greatest number of birds on Christmas Day. At the time many bird species like passenger pigeons were in deep decline due to unregulated hunting and the Society was interested in trying to change public ideas about conservation.

The event has become something of a social event for birders working in groups instead of birding alone or with just one other person. Marquette’s counts usually include both veteran and novice birders, offering all the opportunity to find and identify the current local birds. Counters also get the opportunity to share experiences with different kinds of equipment like binoculars and spotting scopes, and good places to bird in the area.

When more unusual birds like snowy owls are found they can bring the feeling of elation to all able to see it. When a true rarity like a yellow-breasted chat is found, like the one on Island Beach Road in north Marquette in 2015, all counters may take a moment and travel to the site for a look. The chat is a rare bird for the Upper Peninsula at any time and a true rarity in winter. Fortunately the bird stuck around for several days feeding on midges around open water in a wetland along the street allowing others not on the count to see it too. With today’s technology, it is possible to get a bird alert out quickly.

The weather in the weeks prior to the count plays a huge role in size of the diversity of the species present in Marquette each year. Mild conditions help keep the harbors of Marquette open and even some of the rivers like the Dead, Chocolay and Carp and small brooks like the one east of Presque Isle Ave. and Hawley Street open. The open water provides opportunities for a much greater variety of ducks like scaup, mergansers and long-tailed ducks, common loons glaucous, Iceland, greater and lesser black-backed gulls, horned and red-necked grebes. Storms and jet streams can bring vagrants into the area or keep individuals in the area.

Weather on the day of the count is huge factor in the success of the count. Occasionally the date is changed in a given year due to stormy weather. Windy conditions with heavy snow can severely hamper counters efforts to find more elusive species like hawks and owls and slow the feeding activities of smaller, more common birds. Even larger birds like gulls, geese and eagles are harder to find and identify when they are in the air under poor conditions.

Counting can be done for the entire 24 hours and birds seen and heard can be counted. Searches for owls start in Marquette around 6 a.m., with barred, great horned and northern saw-whet owls the intended targets. The saw-whets, the smallest are the most difficult and are rarely found, usually on the outskirts of town. Great horned owls are the most dependable with several families out there to find in the circle. Snowy owls are the one more likely to be seen in daylight. One was found on a store sign at Wright St. and U.S. 41 last Tuesday, so hope are that it will stay in town until tomorrow.

For those staying at home on count day, feeder counts are also included in the day’s totals. While these and field counts are not scientifically controlled, the 116 years of numbers do provide valuable data nationwide about the state of bird populations, movements and habitat quality. Local counts start tomorrow in Marquette and Sunday in AuTrain. For contact information on these and all the others go to https://www.arcgis.com/apps/ View/index.html?appid=3dcefef2f4654a94960fc3c8d1cfcc6d or google Christmas Bird Count Map and have fun!

EDITOR’S NOTE: Scot Stewart is a teacher at Bothwell Middle School in Marquette and a freelance photographer.