Christmas (Tree) Bird Count

For Cedar Waxwing

I haven’t added a bird to my list since September. It’s as if I’ve stopped trying. Maybe I have.

Each year, Audubon holds a Christmas bird count, which they call, at 114 years, “the longest running citizen science survey in the world.” On more than one occasion, Cedar Waxwing has suggested a Christmas tree bird count. That’s about all I can muster these days. I decided to try it.

It’s easier said than done. The field marks of some ornaments can be as confusing as those confusing fall warblers. (Alas, because of time constraints, you will not be getting the photographic evidence as provided by Ms. Waxwing, other than links to previously posted photos.)

And just when I’d think I was done, I’d see another bird. So did I get them all?

3 northern cardinals
1 gold-covered bird that I have decided to call a turtle dove
1 flamingo
1 saw-whet owl
1 eastern screech owl (I think)
1 snowy owl
1 American woodcock
1 hard-to-describe stuffed white bird in a put-a-bird-on-it (maybe the bird on toast) shape
1 peacock
1 common loon
1 indigo bunting
1 barred Plymouth Rock chicken
1 toucan
1 multicolored tropical-looking bird in nest
2 woodpeckers that look more like laddered-backs than anything else in the book
1 yellow-bellied sapsucker
1 black-chinned hummingbird (with Santa on its back)
1 California quail
1 black-capped chickadee

Twenty-two.