Last weekend, on December 20th, Pocono Mountain held their annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC). The CBC is a bird census, sponsored by the National Audubon Society, where birders across the Western Hemisphere count birds over a 24-hour period within 15-mile diameter circles. I live in a private community, Penn Estates, which happens to be right in the middle of one of the areas for our local CBC that is not usually accessible. My friend and I volunteered to count within the gates so that the area is not left out.
Black-capped Chickadee
Penn Estates is a residential, yet very wooded, community in the Poconos that gets a nice variety of wildlife including over one hundred species of birds that I have found so far in two years. Our count was a little slow, likely due to the nicer weather that is keeping the winter birds north, at 22 species. Our highlights included a calling Eastern-Screech Owl, a nice flyover Red-tailed Hawk and two Ravens at the end of the count. Birds that we likely should have seen that we dipped on include a resident Great Blue Heron, Pileated Woodpeckers, Brown Creepers, White-throated Sparrows, Purple Finches, Pine Siskins, Red-shouldered Hawks and Turkey Vultures. We also could have tried harder to call out a Barred Owl who I have previously heard calling near my friend’s house, which is not far from the Tannersville Cranberry Bog.
Red-tailed Hawk
Many of the birds we found were hanging around the three small lakes within the community. We had a surprisingly small amount of luck at bird feeders, which probably means that the natural food is keeping the birds satisfied.
Tufted Titmouse
The following table summarizes our counts:
I will most likely do the same next year so that my community is no longer left out of the CBC due to restricted access. Even with the low number of birds, it was a fun morning!
Black-capped Chickadee