Bird Watchers in the Heartland
by Eric Johnson of The Plainsman
Christmas bird count goes on despite weather.
U.S. Fish and
Wildlife assistant project director Kathy Baer, reflected in the mirror, talks
to bird watchers Bob Rodgers, middle, and Bill Barnes Friday at Riverview
Cemetery. Below, a blue jay, hidden behind branches, pecks at a branch as
it is counted in the bird count.
Despite the
cold and light snowfall, bird enthusiasts hit the Beadle County countryside
Friday morning for the National Audubon Society's 101st Christmas Bird Count.
The count, derived from an actual hunt in 1900, sent volunteers and employees of the U.S. Fish and wildlife Service in Huron out into Beadle County looking for birds and counting them, with totals to be compiled later.
Karrie Schmidt, an administrative assistant and volunteer coordinator, was among those taking part in the count, which was called the side hunt.
"They used to go out the day after Christmas and see how many they could shoot," Schmidt said. "That's how the tradition got started."
In 1900, ornithologist Frank Chapman - along with other conservationists of the time - was disturbed by the slaughter of hundreds of birds caused by the hunt. Teams of hunters went out to outdo each other by trying to kill the most birds and animals.
Chapman organized 27 friends, ad placing them in 25 different locations, counted birds on Christmas Day, rather than shooting them.
Like their 1900 counterparts, Schmidt and the group of volunteers that included both old shoes and new faces, struck out to the areas surrounding Huron to not only count birds but see what Beadle County had to offer.
"Not only birds, but wildlife," Schmidt said. "It was fun to get out and see what was around."
Each bird count is done in a circle of 15 miles in diameter, taking up around 177 square miles. It's up to counters to get to as much of that area as possible in one day's time and count each species they see. Numbers from the day's count won't be ready until next wee, but Schmidt said that just by observing throughout the day, it was fairly easy to see a decrease from the amount of birds counted last year. The reason was simple. With South Dakota returning to a winter of bitter cold, high winds and heavy snowfall, birds didn't come out as much. Plus, some roads that would usually be driven to look for birds were blown over, keeping the counters from traveling do3wn them.
"Last year, we didn't have as much snow on the ground, milder weather conditions," Schmidt said.
But that didn't mean that counters missed the chance to see some of the wild's most majestic of birds. Both bald eagles and golden eagles, were spotted in the northwestern part of Beadle County.
There were, of course, plenty of pheasants out in the fields, along with some house sparrows and a good number of rough-legged hawks.
"Those are always good to see," Schmidt said.
When the numbers from Beadle County are tabulated, they will be added to counts from the rest of South Dakota. Then the numbers will be able to give a good idea of the status of birds in the state.
"It's become a good study of ecosystems and populations," Schmidt said. "Birds are a good tool."
Data from the count can provide valuable knowledge about long-term health of bird populations and the environment, because birds are the first group of animals to be affected by various environmental threats such as habitat destruction and pollution.
Today more than 50,000 people from every state, every Canadian province, the Caribbean, Central and South America and the Pacific Islands participate in more than 1800 counts held during a two-and-a-half-week period.
Birds
Elusive on Bird Day
by Mike Carroll of The Plainsman
The birds were a no show 
Saturday at an International Migratory Bird day educational event, which was put
on by the Huron Wetland Management District of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service at Memorial Park.
A group of enthusiastic bird watchers from Huron and Aberdeen showed up for the event, but didn't have much to watch.
"This is the first year we've had this event and we thought the park would be a good place close to town that would allow people to come," said Karrie Schmidt, an outdoor recreation planner in the Huron office.
"We're not getting any birds in to demonstrate the bird banding, which allows us to trace the birds to see where they end up."
Schmidt says a change of scenery may be in the works for next year's event in order to have a little better success.
"We might have to try a different site, with some more shrubbery," she said.
"The park is pretty well groomed, so there's not a lot of shrubbery."
Public Waterfowl Protection Areas are good spots for anyone wishing to go bird watching, according to Schmidt. The event may be moved to one of those in the future.
The day wasn't a total wash, however, as each person attending the event put together a bird house that they ere able to take home.
Anyone with questions concerning migratory birds or outdoor recreation is welcome to contact Schmidt as 352-5894, extension 20.