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Carefree – 2005
By Walter Thurber (compiler)
The 14th annual Carefree Christmas Bird Count was held on Monday, January 2, 2006. Some 78 field observers and 8 feeder watchers together found 102 species and a record high of 18,329 individual birds. We were surprised to find so many birds after the Cave Creek Complex Fire ravaged nearly one-fourth of our count area in June.
New species for the count were a Peregrine Falcon in the Tonto Hills area and Brewer’s Blackbirds at the north end of
Record high counts were established for 34 species. Our sparrow numbers were up dramatically as they apparently benefited from re-growth of grasses in the burn areas. Gambel’s Quail was our most abundant bird. In fact Carefree had the national high count for Gambel’s Quail, as was the case with Harris’s Hawk, Gilded Flicker, Cactus Wren, Rock Wren, Curve-billed Thrasher and Black-throated Sparrow.
We gathered at the Satisfied Frog Restaurant for our compilation dinner. I am grateful to everyone who participated or supported our count in some way.
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