It’s now 2026, and the New Year arrived cold and windy. No doubt the cold and icy patches will be around for a long time.
It was really cold last Sunday, when the annual Bethlehem/Easton Christmas Bird Count took place. Bird counts are normally a reason to get outdoors, but if we didn’t have a truck that enabled David to drive me around, my count numbers would’ve been pathetic.
At one spot by the woods, I saw several species of winter sparrow that usually wouldn’t be seen in suburban backyards. They included White-crowned, Field, Lincoln’s, Swamp, and Savannah sparrows. I learned sparrows because our valley fields have always attracted them.
But, while most people reading this won’t know a lot about sparrows, they will know about a species that was all over the place that day. American robins were everywhere we went. I counted 168 individuals, and I know many fellow counters reported similar, if not higher, numbers.
In the winter, robins flock together, making it easier for them to find food than if they were singularly searching for it. While some of these flocks go as far south as the Gulf Coast, others hardly move at all. However, even after decades immersed in the world of ornithology, I still find it odd seeing flocks of robins in the snow.
I was also fortunate to locate two Eastern screech owls, although I didn’t see them. I went outside in the dark and played their trilling calls, hoping that one would answer. And two of them did.
Screech owls are small, only about 8 inches tall. But their tremulous trills have scared many people because they sound like they’re coming from some unknown night creature. If you hear a downward whinnying call repeated over and over in the dead of night, don’t be afraid. It’s not something coming to get you. But if you don’t know what’s making the sounds it can be chilling.
I also played great horned owl calls because I know there are some on the hillside across the road, but I didn’t get any response. Great horneds are already beginning to nest, now that it’s January. They use nests abandoned by hawks and other birds, and they also use tree cavities. They don’t build their own.
Recordings of bird sounds can be found on different apps, but the one I use the most is the one from All About Birds. It’s free to download and easy to use for all kinds of bird information. In addition to the normal calls and sounds birds make, it also has recordings of sounds you wouldn’t typically associate with different species.
When I was standing outside in the dark playing owl calls, I suddenly heard nearby movement and an animal smaller than a cat run out across the snow. I remember thinking that if I could see and identify it, I’d have something to write about besides birds. But it never reappeared.