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At first it was difficult hearing the birds for all the dogs barking. It was early in the morning and we were down a side road near the KBM. I’m sure anyone looking out their window and seeing three men with binoculars standing in the middle of the street would have been a little suspicious. Our presence sure wasn’t overlooked by the neighbourhood dogs who started yapping the minute we arrived. But soon the birds found us too. We had a little help in our mission from an iPod with the sound of a screech owl coming out of its attached speakers. This really brought out the birds but more about that later.

Just after Christmas I accompanied long time birders Richard Blacquiere and Harvey McLeod on the annual Christmas Bird Count. They were responsible for surveying a 24 kilometer circle of West Saint John for this years count. The region included the Harbour Bridge, an area along the River Road and the Crane Mountain Landfill. They invited me along and our job that morning was to identify and count as many different bird species and individual birds as possible and record the information.

The Christmas Bird Count has a long tradition. This is the 109th edition of a practice that began in the early days of the 20th century. Prior to the turn of the century people took part in a holiday custom known as the Christmas ‘Side Hunt’. The goal was to go out with guns and shoot as many birds and animals as you could. The side with the biggest pile of feathers and fur won. Conservation was beginning about that time and soon binoculars replaced the guns. That first bird count in 1900 attracted 27 birders from Toronto to Pacific Grove, California and they identified a total of 90 species. Farmer William H. Moore of Scotch Lake, near Mactaquac, reported a list of 10 species seen near his home on Christmas Day, 1900. But for the next fifty years only a handful of counts were conducted here. That changed in the mid 50’s and this years count brought out tens of thousands of volunteers from all over the America’s including many from here in New Brunswick.

That first stop by the KBM proved to be gold. For some reason the sounds from the iPod attract the birds like bees to honey. This practice is common around New Brunswick but frowned upon in some parts of the birding world. But the audio enticement did the job and soon we were surrounded by twenty to thirty birds. We counted eight bluejays, numerous chickadees and to our surprise two robins. They usually head south for the winter but some hang around if the food is there. Obviously these two were finding enough to eat.

Our next stop was truly the birding Mecca of this area. We spent over an hour at the Crane Mountain Landfill. There were thousands and thousands of birds. This place is like a giant fast food restaurant for our feathered friends. They flock here to eat the stuff we don’t. Next time you go to the landfill keep your eyes open and you’ll be amazed what you see.

On the drive from the gate to the main office we spotted nine bald eagles. Most of them were juveniles perched in the trees surveying the landscape. If it weren’t for the others pointing them out, I would have probably missed them even though these are big birds. The eagles are the top of the food chain but we also saw a hawk chasing what appeared to be thousands of European starlings. There were too many gulls, crows and ravens to even count.

Harvey McLeod loves the surprise factor you get when you go bird watching. He compares the hobby to that line from the Forest Gump movie about life being like a box of chocolates and you never know what you’re going to get. He told me earlier that morning they were surveying the Harbour Bridge and discovered seven or eight thousand starlings roosting under there. Who knew?

Both Harvey and Richard like the outdoors aspect of birding. It gets you outdoors in all kinds of weather with like minded people and Richard says you can’t beat the thrill of the chase. This years Christmas Bird Count provided us the thrill and at the same time contributed to a better understanding of the health of the bird population in our area.