By Peter Vankevich
This headline? Thomas Hardy is author of “Far from the Madding Crowd.”
Who among us is not looking for an off-the-beaten path location to end what, by all accounts, has been a tumultuous year?
To refine: Who wants to brave the end-of-the-year weather on the Outer Banks by counting the many birds present and making a modest contribution to our knowledge of trends in bird life that has implications for all of us?
I’m referring to the Christmas Bird Counts (CBC), the largest and longest-running citizen science projects in the world.
Sponsored by the National Audubon Society, the first counts — 27 of them — began in 1900 and were organized by ornithologist Frank Chapman, founder and publisher of “Bird-Lore” (which became “Audubon Magazine”).
They were billed as an alternative to a traditional holiday activity known as the “side hunt.” This hunt was a competition to see who could shoot as many birds and animals as possible.
Instead, the CBC focused on just counting birds, recording both species and the number of individuals — a means to promote conservation and improve knowledge of bird populations.
It succeeded.
This activity has grown exponentially. Last year, about 80,000 volunteers and 2,500 counts took place across 20 countries in the Western Hemisphere during a three-week period from Dec. 14 to Jan. 5 each year.
Two of these counts are on Ocracoke and Portsmouth islands, the last two days of the year. The Ocracoke count is scheduled for Dec. 30, but the Portsmouth count, originally scheduled for Dec. 31, has been canceled due to transport issues.
There have been a few occasions when the dates were reversed due to weather concerns about getting to Portsmouth. They require an RSVP and many of the volunteer birders participate in both.
A count period covers 24 hours, but Portsmouth is much shorter as the participants board a skiff run by Captain Donald Austin from Ocracoke village in the early morning and return by mid-afternoon.
A typical Ocracoke count can tally 80 to 85 species and Portsmouth, 65.
Portsmouth is a particularly enticing venue.
Stark, with wonderful winter light and mosquito-free, one can wander the village with binoculars in one hand and a camera in the other.
Portsmouth is noted for having one of the state’s highest wintering populations for American Oystercatchers. A few years ago, the counters were thankful for a Bald Eagle. Not only was it a good bird for the count, but it also flew low, spooking 29 hidden oystercatchers that rose into the air.
On Ocracoke you can walk the winter beach, scan the marshes and walk through maritime forests. Double-crested Cormorants will be in the thousands and Yellow-rumped Warblers in the hundreds. Northern Gannets, Red Knots and Red-breasted Nuthatches are usually reported.
One of the tricks to withstand winter weather, sometimes high winds and low temperatures, is to dress appropriately with more layers the better.
If spending the day counting birds is not enough, there is a social “tally rally” famed for its vegetarian chili and key lime pie at the compiler’s house near the Ocracoke lighthouse that takes place in early evening after the count.
The Carolina Bird Club has details about the North Carolina and South Carolina Christmas Counts. You can find this information online at http://www.carolinabirdclub.org.
If you are interested in participating in the Ocracoke count, contact the compiler, Peter Vankevich, via Facebook or petevankevich@gmail.com.
Peter Vankevich is the founder and compiler of the Ocracoke and Portsmouth Island Christmas Bird Counts.
