Special to the Herald

Just over one month has passed since Effingham County's first official survey for the Christmas Bird Count and the results are in.

Similar to the US Census taken every ten years, the Christmas Bird Count (or CBC) is one of the longest-running citizen science projects hosted through the Audubon Society. Each winter professional birders, amateur scientists, wildlife enthusiasts, and Scout troops venture outdoors to count the number of birds that choose their

neighborhoods as their winter retreat. Data collected through the CBC has given the Audubon Society a treasure trove of migratory patterns and population estimates that are vital to deciding whether a species is recovering or declining. 

Compared to the night Effingham got a rare snowfall last week Effingham CBC coordinator and ECCA science teacher John Cassell recalls the morning of Effingham's first CBC to be much warmer. The temperature was just above freezing in the high 30s with minor winds at 8 a.m. when he and six other volunteers walked around the Honey Ridge Agricenter to catch the early birds (pun intended) waking up and looking for their breakfast.

Walking the pond areas and cow pastures for almost two hours yielded 32 species. Guyton resident Lisa Scarborough and her Girl Scouts outwalked them with a 2.17 mile walk down Guyton's Caboose Trail listening for calls on the free Merlin App. Later that afternoon Crystal Thompson, one of the leaders for the Springfield Garden Club, recorded the sapsucker, chickadees, and cardinals at her backyard feeder. In total, 17 volunteers spent 7.75 hours actively birding over 7.7 miles counting 495 individual birds across 49 different species. 

“Technically it was 47 species if you only include wild animals, two domesticated species at Bakers Lake were the Muscovy Duck and someone's loose pet Mallards,” Cassell said. “We covered a lot of ground, and we all learned some new birds along the way.” He noted that the Merlin App was used to identify a Winter Wren at the Caboose Trail and photos of some birds were later identified as other species.

The species that was most observed on the surveys were 90 Canada geese, followed by a tie between 60 each of Tree Swallows and Yellow-Rumped Warblers. While the Yellow-Rumped Warblers were counted all over the county, all 60 swallows were gracefully swarming the large pond at Chateau 1800 to drink its fresh water. When swallows fly in large, coordinated flocks, it’s called a murmuration.

While birds were the main focus of this event, people did stop to look at the other nature that was at their survey stops. Cassell pointed out some of the unique plants on the trees this time of year such as American Mistletoe and Resurrection Fern. But, at the Tommy Long boat ramp survey he paused to observe a plant he couldn't identify on the water's surface. “I think it's invasive,” he said to a volunteer before taking photos which later came back as Parrot's Feathers (Myriophyllum aquaticum), a harmful aquatic weed. “If nobody knows this plant is here it will continue to spread down into the Savannah River,” Cassell said. He urges anyone who sees Parrot's Feathers when kayaking or boating to make sure they photograph them and report them to the right authorities. Also, boat propellers can dislodge them so when you trailer your boat make sure none hitch a ride to another water source. 

“Overall, this CBC event was a success that will definitely be repeated in 2025,” Cassell said. “Make sure your calendars are tentatively open for Saturday, Dec. 20. That is when we'll try again but I'll start advertising around Halloween,” Cassell added.