Date: Fri 03-Jan-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: DOTTIE

Quick Words:

Brody-Christmas-bird-count

Full Text:

Where The Birds Are: Christmas Count Tallies Newtown Species

B Y D OROTHY E VANS

They didn't find two French hens or a partridge in a pear tree.

But there were hawks a-lurking, juncos a-flitting and a pileated woodpecker

drumming - enough to keep area bird watchers on the run, as they beat the

bushes and scanned the treetops for just one more species to add to their

list.

This was the annual Christmas Bird Count held this year on Saturday, December

21. It was also the first official day of winter and there would be barely

nine hours of daylight in which to comb the fields, woods and backyards of

northeastern Newtown for birds.

There was no time to waste.

The annual count, sponsored by the Newtown, Southbury and Roxbury bird club,

involved more than 50 people going out into the field in 13 separate groups.

When the results were in, they would be sent to club compiler Chris Wood in

Woodbury, who would forward them to the National Audubon Society.

Group A would cover the Newtown territory and would be led by Newtown

resident, poet, and biologist Polly Brody, who hadn't missed a count in 20

years.

When the assigned territory had been covered during the designated 24-hour

period, Ms Brody would term it an "average day" for a Christmas count.

In summary, the chicadees were up, and the Carolina wrens were down.

No yellow-rumped warblers or American kestrels were spotted.

And, strangely, no kingfisher, which Ms Brody said was "a surprise."

"There was a noticeably low count of song sparrows and white throats. But

there were plenty of juncos," she said.

More good news, there were several wintering robins and one purple finch.

For those who love bluebirds, "they're rebounding."

According to bird club records, only 200 bluebirds were seen in 1975. Yet the

1996 count turned up 320 in all (data taken from all 13 groups covering the

tri-town region).

"That's down only 80 from last year's all-time high of 400," said Mr Wood on

Monday as he prepared to submit the club's count results to the National

Audubon Society.

Count Day Dawns

Cold But Sunny

"Rain or snow - if that's the day, we go," said Ms Brody.

As it turned out, the weather for the 1996 count was nearly perfect, cold and

sunny with very little wind.

Veteran birders don't need much urging to grab their binoculars and go see

what's out there. The annual Christmas count provides a perfect excuse to head

outside into the fresh air and sunshine.

If you were a spotter helping in the bird count, all you needed was the

ability to focus quickly and shout out some vital statistics before your bird

flew off.

"It's little and has a sort of greenish breast and I see wing bars," said one

member of Ms Brody's group.

"That might be a golden-crowned kinglet," Ms Brody said as she trained her

glasses on the fidgety little bird, confirming the sighting.

That would be one of what Ms Brody termed a "nice little number" of kinglets

seen that day by group members.

Owling Before Dawn

For the most dedicated birders, Christmas Count Day began very early.

Even though it was still pitch dark at 6 am, Art and Carol Titus of New

Milford met Ms Brody at a designated spot along Albert's Hill for a little

pre-dawn owling. They were successful in identifying two different species of

owls, simply by listening to their calls.

"Art did a barred owl call and a great-horned and a screech [owl] answered

back," said Ms Brody.

Mr Titus had also seen several bluebirds as the sun rose, and two great blue

herons wading in a pond. The latter species is not usually seen this time of

year, he said, unless there is open water.

After two more hours in the field, the Group A birders gathered at the Blue

Colony Diner for breakfast, while they discussed the morning's results over

coffee and poached eggs on rye.

It would be their only chance for rest and refreshment, since they'd be going

out again soon to finish the day's work.

They knew that count day would end all too quickly. By 4 pm, when the setting

sun disappeared behind the hills of Bridgewater, most Newtown birds would

already be settled down in their chosen roosting places, secure against the

long winter's night.

Summoning The Birds

After their breakfast, Group A set out again in two cars with the windows

down, their clipboards propped on their dashboards. They knew the route well.

Ms Brody's group traditionally is responsible for the sector of Newtown that

lies north and east of Route 25. They follow Walnut Tree Hill Road and Hanover

Road into the Pond Brook area that includes sections of the Lake Lillinonah

shoreline and the Upper Paugussett State Forest.

She knows all the best birding spots. Not only has Ms Brody participated in

nearly 20 years of Christmas bird counts, she has frequently led the Newtown

Garden Club on May bird walks, hoping to observe migrating warblers.

As chairman of the Newtown Conservation Commission from 1965-68, Ms Brody was

instrumental in helping save the 798-acre former sheep farm that is now the

Upper Paugussett State Forest and was known then as the Mulliken tract. She

and her fellow commissioners persuaded the state to buy the land when the town

wouldn't put up the money.

"If anything gets me into heaven, that will do it," Ms Brody joked.

Clearly, she wishes that even more land could have been set aside.

When not counting birds, she would occasionally remark with dismay upon seeing

the new houses that have sprung up where there used to be open fields.

"I see they've paved part of Tamarack Road," she noted regretfully.

The area between Tamarack, Echo Valley and Sanford Roads would be the next to

go, she guessed.

But Ms Brody could still delight in those parts of the Newtown landscape that

remain undeveloped.

"Pond Brook is wonderfully clean and is still doing its meanders," she said.

Continuing her counting duties, Ms Brody began "pishing" or calling the small

birds out of the hemlocks, hoping to count yet one more chickadee or a dozen

more juncos.

Amazingly, they responded to her whistles, appearing out of nowhere to see

what the fuss was about.

The only real pause in the day's birding action took place with a brief stop

to admire the Hanover Springs charter red oak that has stood beside Pond Brook

Road for more than 300 years.

Tricky Sightings

Perhaps because it was quite cold, not many birds could be seen or heard.

Those that the group counted were usually found at backyard feeders or

sheltering in the evergreens and brambles near streams and low-lying areas.

The presence of water and berries for food were important factors, Ms Brody

said.

Since a great deal of territory needed to be covered, roadside sightings had

to be made quickly. Any aberration in the landscape that might turn out to be

a bird was investigated.

"I look in the brambley sections for catbirds," Ms Brody said as she peered

out the car window into a likely looking thicket.

Mr Titus was pleased to report that Cavanaugh Pond off Echo Valley Road had

produced seven black ducks and one "stump duck." (After closer inspection with

the binoculars, the eighth duck turned out to be a stump.)

A rare find, a red-tailed hawk, was sighted late in the day only after Ms

Brody paused to examine a suspicious looking lump at the end of a tree branch.

"Trees don't usually end in bumps," Ms Brody said.

The hawk was sitting very still, perhaps gathering a bit of warmth from the

late afternoon sun.

"After 40 years [in the field], you have an ineffable sense of where to find

them," Ms Brody remarked.

She seemed to know exactly which clump of hemlocks might yield a small tribe

of chickadees, titmice and downy woodpeckers, all foraging together.

By 3:30 pm they were done, having tallied nearly 40 species for the Newtown

census.

"We'd covered our territory and you never retrace your steps. You might see

the same birds."

Ms Brody said firmly, "That's a rule."