The best thing

about the recent National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count in the

Peachtree City circle was the weather.

But the bird

numbers were down.

Dec. 15 was

mild and sunny with a low of 52 and a high of 70 degrees, ideal conditions

for the 12 birders who took to woods and fields enumerating every bird

and species they saw. Three others maintained feeder watches at their

homes.

Since Christmas

Day 1900, birders have been identifying species and counting individual

birds in carefully delineated circles in North America. During the 102 nd

avian census in the recent holiday season, more than 50,000 volunteers

compiled information from 1,800 circles, each 15 miles across, each covering

about 177 square miles. In all 50 states, every Canadian province, parts

of Central and South America, Bermuda, the West Indies, and the Pacific

islands, birders counted and recorded every individual bird and bird species

they saw during one 24-hour day.

Brock Hutchins

of Fayetteville coordinated the local count, and reported that there were

few sightings of unusual birds. The 2001 count did claim the first blue-winged

teal recorded in the history of the count.

The most numerous

single species was the sandhill crane. Flocks totaling more than 3,000

individuals were spotted in the 15-mile circle which centers approximately

on Sharpsburg.

The total number

of species seen was 86, about average for the 21-year history of the Peachtree

City census, but the tally of individual birds was 7,379, the second lowest

count in local history, continuing "a downward trend," according

to Hutchins.

Numbers compiled

here went to the database of the National Audubon Society, which reported

940 similar counts nationwide. Nearly 28 million birds were counted.

The health

of the environment is closely tied to the strength of bird populations,

Hutchins said. Experts use these findings to monitor the earth's overall

condition.

Hutchins said

that despite declining numbers here, he was gratified that the birds are

doing as well as they are in an area where the human population is putting

ever-increasing pressure on bird habitats.

He expressed

appreciation for the participation of counters as well as the generosity

of property owners who permitted ingress on their land.

More at www.audubon.org/bird/cbc/index.html .

Follow links to "Current Year's Results."