2012 Cook Area Christmas Bird Count

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The 2012 Cook Area Christmas Bird Count was conducted on Saturday December 29^th under cloudy skies with occasional snow. There were 9 people driving, walking and snowmobiling in an area with a 8 mile radius from downtown Cook looking for every bird they could see (and identify). There were also 8 people watching their bird feeders and reporting the results. All told they counted 804 individual birds organized in 21 different species. The results have been reported to the Minnesota Ornithologists Union (www.moumn.org/cbc/) and are available for review along with the over 70 other counts conducted in Minnesota.

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The number of birds, species and counters was down slightly this year due to a number of factors. The summer drought has affected the bird numbers, and the price of seed used for bird food is high as a result of the drought as well. The actual date of Christmas afforded many people either a rare long weekend or an even rarer nine day vacation break so many normal counters were out of the area and feeders were empty.

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If you want to participate next year, just call Bill Conger at 666-2377 or drop him an email at congers@accessmn.com.

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