Counting birds in the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge

About 40 citizen scientists counted more than 175 birds during a hike Saturday, Feb. 18 in the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge in Sussex.

The list of which birds and how many they spotted is now part of the 26th annual Great Backyard Bird Count, a global effort which aims to help scientists better understand and protect birds around the world.

”They just want an idea of what are we losing, what are we gaining,” said Karen VanDyk, secretary of the Friends of the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge.

She noted that the warmer weather this winter means that some species usually seen in February are not here “or we’re seeing things that we normally don’t see for another six weeks.”

Giselle Smisko, who led the hike on the Liberty Loop Trail, said this was the second year that a group did the count at that location. Previously, they met at the headquarters in a different part of the refuge.

Among the 22 species of birds spotted this year were a Cooper’s hawk, black and turkey vultures, red-bellied and downy woodpeckers, groups of crows and red-winged blackbirds, and flocks of Canada geese, mallards and northern pintail ducks.

Last year, when the water was frozen, the group saw fewer ducks among the 20 species of birds spotted, including a bald eagle.

Kevin Marshall of Hardyston said he took part in the count because he always has been interested in birds.

”I saw a lot of birds,” he said, although it was difficult to identify many of them because they were far away.

Sandy and Tom Hoover of Newton also were participating in the count for the first time.

”There’s a lot of snow geese and Canada geese - more than you can count,” Tom said. ”It’s nice to get out and walk around.”

Karen O’Keefe, treasurer of the Friends group, explained that bird counters list the number of a species that they see at one time. If they see a larger number of the same species at another time, they use the larger number but do not add the numbers together.

Smisko, who is president of the Friends group, said volunteers also plan to count amphibians in the refuge. The date is uncertain because it needs to be a very rainy evening when the temperature is above 40 degrees.

In those conditions, volunteers have seen frogs, toads, salamanders and snakes cross roads in the refuge.

Those interested in participating may put their names on a list to be alerted by email at program@friendsofwallkillriver.org

The Friends is a group of volunteers who support the refuge and hold educational programs for visitors.

Another upcoming program is a Garden Tea Party to clean up the garden in front of the Owens Crossing Station.

For information, go online to https://www.friendsofwallkillriver.org/ or https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064844883814