Thu, Nov 26 2009
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Annual bird count draws to a close Defining the territory
Group leader Steve Ford, a biology professor at Pittsburg State University, got the task under way by handing out maps to each team of birders. Each team was to travel the back roads of Cherokee County by car — or, when desired, on foot — to conduct the counts. “Years ago, I divided the area into six sections,” Ford said, pointing to a 15-mile circle that spans land west of the junction of Kansas highways 102 and 7. “We divide up, and everyone gets a section.” The sections encompass the mine-camp settlements of Roseland, Carona and West Mineral. “There are many old strip pits in the area, and I tried to divide it so there is at least some of that habitat in each section,” said Ford. The dedication of birders to the yearly count sometimes surprises Ford, who recalled a Christmas Bird Count of 10 or 12 years ago. “The roads were so icy it was hard to keep the car on the road,” he said. “I came on the outside chance that one or two folks would show up, and there were four or five here. Then four or five showed up a bit later. They are die-hard birders.” Birds of a feather This year, Ford and his wife, Cindy, an associate professor of biology at PSU, teamed up to drive the eastern-most section, with Steve driving and Cindy armed with a pair of binoculars, a notepad, and a field guide for bird identification. Before starting, she took notes with a scientist’s precision on the time, the date, the weather, and then announced, “We’re ready.” The first stop was alongside a yard of a home where the pair took note of ground-feeding juncos that darted about under mature trees, while a couple of red-bellied woodpeckers hunted for insects on their massive trunks and starlings perched on telephone wires above. “Pretty routine stuff,” Cindy said, as she noted each species. Later, along a railroad track bordered by a hedgerow and a farm field, the pair hit pay dirt when they spotted eight collared doves — an exciting moment as they are a non-native species originally more comfortable in warmer climes. On the lookout John Hartley, of Pittsburg, said they can bank on seeing a few bald eagles each year, and the group looks forward to sightings of rough-legged hawks, too. 
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