Families have fun counting birds at Fox Chapel nature reserve

Stacy Ogutu has the eyes of a red-tailed hawk and the quick note-taking skills of an educated song sparrow.

Both of those talents were on display as the McCandless youth marked down every bird she and her other family members saw along the paths of Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve in Fox Chapel late Saturday morning.

“I love going birding with my family,” said Stacy, 10.

She and about 40 others at the environmental educational site took part in the 125th annual Christmas Bird Count.

Stacy was joined by her younger brother, Sergey Kodia, 6, mother, Joyce Mutsoli and stepfather, Alex Dragon.

They were a part of a group led by Gabi Hughes, environmental educator at the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania.

Hughes stopped at various locations along the trail to talk to visitors about the plant life and how birds eat fruits and help spread seeds. She also played bird calls from her cellphone.

“One thing about these birds: they are very good at hiding whenever they don’t want to be found,” Hughes said while on the trail. “A lot of times you’re birding by ear because they are so good at hiding.”

Dragon, a science teacher at Falk Laboratory School in Oakland, said he signed his family up for Christmas Bird Count following a presentation he did about birds for a Girl Scout troop at the school.

“I’ve been a bird watcher for a long time,” Dragon said. “I’ve been getting them into it a little more in the last year.”

Sergey said he enjoyed the experience; his favorite bird on the trail was a blue jay.

Mutsoli said it was a great activity for her children, who had spent most of lives in Kenya prior to coming to the U.S.

“They were used to doing so many different stuff in Kenya, and seeing them have a different hobby that they had never been interested in before is a good thing,” Mutsoli. “We tried to talk to them about finding something to do in America, which is very different from Kenya.

“I’m happy for them. … Doing this together, keeping them away from their phones — something away from the screen. Just looking at nature (and being) appreciative to witness the beauty here.”

Brief Bird Count history

The Christmas Bird Count has been described as the world’s longest-running citizen science project, with people of all ages and birding experience counting birds they see on specific dates.

It was started by Frank Chapman and 26 other conservationists as a way of promoting conservation by counting, rather than hunting, birds on Christmas Day in 1900, according to the National Audubon Society.

Prior to the turn of the 20th century, hunters engaged in a holiday tradition known as the Christmas “Side Hunt.”

Participants would choose sides and go out into a field with their guns — whoever brought in the biggest pile of feathered and furred quarry won, according to NAS reports.

Chapman’s proposal served as a “Christmas Bird Census” and became the new tradition with the effort growing each year.

The Christmas Bird Census runs from Dec. 14 through Jan. 5.

Audubon and other organizations use data collected during that time to assess the health of bird populations, and to help guide conservation action.

How counting is done now

Counting areas are split up into circles 15 miles in diameter.

Beechwood farms is in the Pittsburgh circle.

Data in that circle, as well as the Mon Valley, the Buffalo Creek Valley and South Butler, is collected by the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania.

Nearly 40,000 birds and 76 species were counted last year in the Pittsburgh area alone.

About 215 observers participated in the Pittsburgh area last year. They counted nearly 40,000 birds and 76 species on count day, Dec. 31, 2023.

The South Butler Bird Count is in its 14th year. Its counting day is Sunday, Dec. 29.

This is the second year for Mon Valley.

Nick Stahlman, wildlife habitat educator, led that circle. Its count took place Dec. 15.

He said about 35 people participated on a very rainy day and saw 54 species and a total of 3,371 birds.

“It was a pretty good turnout, especially for the second year of doing the circle,” Stahlman said.

People can find their closest circle at gis.audubon.org.

Bird watchers in those areas can also count birds at their local feeders and submit their data through eBird, an online resource to track the feathered friends all over the globe.

Kids Bird Count

Saturday was the 125th Christmas Bird Count for Pittsburgh.

Hughes and five other volunteers led groups of 10 people or less at Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve between 10 a.m. and noon. for the Kids Bird Count program.

Groups had a list of birds to find as well as photos to help identify them.

“(It’s) a fun way to get kids excited about birds and looking for birds and counting birds,” Hughes said. “We had 19 species and around 80 individual (birds). We each had our little group and went to different sections of the trail.”

They included three types of sparrows and three types of woodpeckers.

Several adults had already counted birds in other parts of the 134-acre property earlier that morning.

Data collected throughout the day would be added to the overall count for the Pittsburgh circle.

“We just did a small portion of it,” Hughes said of the children’s participation. “We have, like, three-and-a-half miles of trail. That would probably be a little much for the little ones.”

The children’s program has taken place for about eight years.

“We always make this a free program because we want this to be accessible to everybody,” Hughes said. “We want it to be something the whole family can come to.”

McCandless couple Nicole and Ryan Hoover bring their children, Andrew, 9; Daniel, 6; and Jordan, 4, to the nature reserve often.

Andrew volunteers there and helps water plants, move them from pot to pot and handle seeds among other activities.

“I know a bunch of the people here and I just like them,” he said.

Nicole Hoover said a book called “100 Plants to Feed the Bees” found at a local library got them interested in pollinators and other plants a few years ago.

They bought some indigenous plants at the nature reserve to test some of the book’s findings and have been enthralled ever since.

“They are amazing here,” Nicole Hoover said. “Gabi and other workers here are knowledgeable and so good with kids. … Very few places will let you take kids to volunteer.”

She said bird counting has become a tradition. The family saw a golden-crowned kinglet among other birds.

Andrew said his favorite bird was the woodpecker because he can hear them knocking on trees by his house.

After the count

Participants at Beechwood Farms gathered inside one of the nature reserve’s buildings to compare notes and tally their counts while enjoying some hot chocolate.

Volunteer naturalist Helen Roble brought out a special bird that was not on the trail. It was a male American kestrel, which is a member of the falcon family.

Families were able to take photos and some selfies with the bird perched on Roble’s gloved hand.