Stepping slowly through the brush of a small wooded area on the east end of Galveston Island, the only audible sounds are twigs lightly snapping, crunching leaves and the everchanging melodies of nearby birds.
Judy Rowen is careful not to make any sudden movements or sounds. She is hoping to catch a glimpse of a wood duck floating in the nearby water.
While Rowen didn't get a glimpse of the wood duck that December afternoon, she and a group of other birders caught sight of more than 60 different bird species, tallying each one as they went.
The tallies the birders kept were part of a wider effort to get a census count on bird species around the world through theNational Audubon Society's annual Christmas Bird Count.
The count runs from Dec. 14-Jan. 5 and is organized into circles around the U.S., Canada and multiple countries in the Western Hemisphere. Each circle has a 15-mile diameter span. Birders will spend an entire day counting as many birds as possible within their designated circle. The data they gather is used to track long-term bird trends and get a snapshot of the birds this time of year.
"You get citizen science, which is something that’s become really important, especially in recent years," said Sarah Belles, who is the Gulf Coast Avian Ecologist for theAmerican Bird Conservancy."We don’t have enough scientists, the manpower for everyone to go out and do this, so it can use communities to more broadly cover these areas."
Rowen’s group of five birders is one of multiple groups taking part in the Galveston Christmas Bird Count.
Lalise Mason, who runs the nonprofitScenic Galveston,said when the groups within the Galveston Christmas Bird Count circle gathered to count their tallies at the end of their 24-hour counting period, they ended up recording 183 different species.
"One hundred eighty-threeis ahugenumber for the Galveston Christmas Bird Count," Mason said, adding that number exceeds past years.
Mason also said the birders recorded multiple rare bird sightings, such as a painted bunting, which Mason said is a very common bird to see in the summer, but very unusual to see in the winter.
The moments when Rowen's group saw rare species were exciting for them. The women would set up their scopes and pause to listen to the bird's call. After years of experience, each of them could identify a species just by its sounds or even a bright flash of color underneath its wings. They would immediately shout out the species and then confirm it with theMerlin Bird ID app.
It's like a puzzle for birder Lisa Hardcastle, who was part of the Galveston Christmas Bird Count.
"It engages your brain so much because you have to look at so many details of a bird and factor in the time of year, where you’re at, the habitat it’s in," Hardcastle said.
For Rowen, it’s also a way to unwind.
"It’s the most mindful thing I do. I don’t think about tasks and stuff. I just am," Rowen said.
While the group of women went their separate ways for the time being, groups of birders will gather again Jan. 5 to tally species for the birding circle on thewest end of Galveston.
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