By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
High temperatures around Barton County reached the 50s on Monday, Dec. 16. That likely played a role in this year's Cheyenne Bottoms and Barton County Christmas Bird Count. Kansas Wetlands Education Center Director Curtis Wolf said the good weather was good for volunteers and led to some all-time high numbers for the area's 50th count.
"With the Christmas Bird Counts, weather plays a huge part just in the differences we see year to year," Wolf said. "Obviously, if we're totally iced over in the wetlands that's going to very much limit the number of waterfowl we see here. If we don't have open water, most of those waterfowl are going to be heading south."
The 269,077 snow geese counted was an all-time high, as were the 15,145 green-winged teal, 199 mourning doves, and 182 white-crowned sparrows. The 13 volunteers also counted an all-time high 10 spotted towhees - a bird that could be confused for a robin.
"Towhees can definitely be one of those birds that is a little bit inconspicuous and they like to hide a little bit," said Wolf. "For whatever reason, we were able to get into a couple of places where they really came out and showed themselves, so we were able to get them counted. I don't know that that really says there's a lot more of them in the area or anything like that. It's just one of things by chance we were in the right place to see them this year."
In all, 83 species and 304,662 individuals were counted in the Cheyenne Bottoms region, which covers a 15-mile radius and touches most communities in Barton County. Seventy-seven species were counted last year and 61 species were documented in 2022.
Other notables this year include: 21 species of ducks and geese and 10 species of sparrows. Savannah sparrows and Lincoln's Sparrows were observed for just the sixth time.
Missing in the count this were were great horned owls, rough-legged hawks, loggerhead shrikes, cedar waxwings, northern mockingbirds, eastern bluebirds, and grackles.
Hundreds of Christmas Bird Counts are conducted by the National Audubon Society each winter to help track bird activity. Approximately 40 of those counts are spread out across Kansas.