We had wonderful weather and a healthy turnout for our 4th annual New Year's Bird Count for Kids. Christmas Bird Counts for Kids, started by Sonoma Birding in California, are being held all across North America now and are taking hold as a new tradition in many places, our school included. Brent Elementary is a DC Public School located on Capitol Hill.
As usual we sent families of 1st-5th graders out to three locations, and kept the PK and K kids back at school for some schoolyard birding. (Reports from only two locations follow, as the checklist from Kennilworth Aquatic Gardens has gone missing.) Kids' favorite birds included a well-seen Cooper's Hawk, and three Great Blue Herons. The report follows:
Haines Point (led by Paul Baicich, Neil Koch, and Natasha Arnold)
Canada Goose 324
Mallard 38
Cooper's Hawk
Ring Billed Gull 51
Great Black Backed Gull 2
Double Crested Cormorant 19
Northern Flicker
Blue Jay
Carolina Chickadee
European Starling 50
Brown-Headed Cowbird 4
House Sparrow 8
Total Species: 12
Total Individuals: 500
National Arboretum (led by Dave Wood)
Canada Goose 11
Mallard 20
Great Blue Heron 3
Ring Billed Gull 26
Hooded Merganser 2
American Crow 126
Fish Crow 2
Carolina Chickadee 2
American Robin 4
Northern Mockingbird 3
European Starling 15
Chipping Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 2
Northern Cardinal 6
Red-Winged Blackbird 10
Total species: 15
Total Individuals: 234
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