Carefree – 2006
By Walter Thurber (compiler)
The 15th annual Carefree Christmas Bird Count was held on Monday, January 2, 2007. A record 103 people birded in the field or at their feeders, including 8 young people. We tallied 105 species and 14,480 individual birds, in each case exceeding our five-year average.
New species for the count were a Zone-tailed Hawk near Seven Springs and two Townsend’s Warblers at Lower Camp Creek. This brings our cumulative total to 158 species. A Western Flycatcher was counted at the Jewel of the Creek Preserve and a Swamp Sparrow popped out at the Sears Kay Ranch. We had an unidentified kingbird at The Boulders Resort.
Surprisingly the Cave Creek Complex Fire that occurred in June 2005 has had a positive effect on our bird totals. Our observers in the Seven Springs-Camp Creek fire zone are finding as many species and half again as many individuals as before the fire. There are fewer brushy areas now but more grassland habitat which is favored by our native sparrows.
We gathered at the Satisfied Frog Restaurant in Cave Creek for our compilation dinner. Thanks to everyone who was involved with the count this year.
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