87 species found at Nokesville area bird count

On a recent Sunday morning in December, a group of birders bundled up, grabbed some binoculars and set out to count birds in the Nokesville area.

The Prince William Conservation Alliance and the Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries sponsored the Nokesville Christmas Bird Count on Dec. 14.

This is the second year the Conservation Alliance has organized the event, and 23 birdwatchers joined in the effort and fanned out to count birds within a 15-miles radius of Nokesville, including Merrimac Farm, parts of Prince William Forest Park and Quantico and the Prince William county landfill.

This year, the birders counted 87 different species of birds, up from 83 species last year, said Kim Hosen, Executive Director of the Prince William Conservation Alliance.

"It's a snapshot," Hosen said. "It just kind of tells you what you see that day."

During the count, birders saw woodcocks, geese, meadow larks, ravens, tree sparrows, owls and bald eagles, Hosen said.

"We saw a lot of bald eagles, most of which were at the landfill," she said. "They were over there looking for food. We also saw a bald eagle flying over a field at Merrimac Farm, which was really pretty."

The National Audubon Society has organized Christmas bird counts for 109 years. The data collected during the counts, conducted this year between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5, are used to track changes in bird populations, according to information published by the Audubon Society.

In Nokesville, a Christmas bird count was held annually until about 12 years ago,when the organization sponsoring the local count stopped doing so, Hosen said.

The Prince William Conservation Alliance renewed the local count last year.

"It's a new count, so it'll take a little while to get it going," Hosen said. "We definitely need to increase the number of birders we have."

For more information about the Nokesville Christmas Bird Count, or the Prince William Conservation Alliance, visit pwconserve.org.

A second area Christmas bird count, in the Fort Belvoir area, is planned for Sunday beginning at 7 a.m. To register for the count, or for more information, e-mail Kurt Gaskill at .

Staff writer Amanda Stewart can be reached at 703-878-8014.