Clad head to toe in warm clothes with woolly hats, socks, vests and stout walking shoes, 28 eager volunteers in five groups set off at sunrise on a recent Sunday morning to count birds, a globally recorded annual labour of love for the Audubon Society.

Well-equipped with the required cameras, binoculars and note pads, members of the Bird Club of New Providence mirrored similar excursions by members in Grand Bahama, Abaco and Andros.

The Audubon Society’s Annual Christmas Bird Count provides invaluable data to scientists and researchers all over the world and helps fuel The Bahamas’ own popular bird watching tourism sector.

Speaking from the tally held at the Sandyport Beach Resort in Nassau at the end of a long day, Carolyn Wardle, organiser of the count on New Providence, said she’s been involved for 25 years.

“We’ve had 24 consecutive bird counts on this island,” said Carolyn.

“The data we collect year by year is invaluable to scientists and researchers who need information on where the birds are, what they’re doing, and if they’re increasing or declining. The bird count this year was successful in as much as we counted about 110 species.”

Mrs. Wardle led the southeast team, who waded in ankle-deep shoreline tidal waves at Sandyport to monitor the native and migratory species of shoreline birds.

“We had a rare sighting of a Turkey Vulture, which is very common on some of the other islands but not often seen here,” said Mrs. Wardle. “We always have a few extra species at the end of the day that we wouldn’t expect – they just pop up for no particular reason.

“If you go to Andros, Grand Bahama, or Abaco the Turkey Vulture is about the first bird you see, but it’s very rare to spot one on New Providence because the island is so small and overdeveloped.”

The Turkey Vulture was only one of over 100 species of birds that made up the final numbers on New Providence.

The five teams of five to six people were spread out across the island for the annual Christmas Bird Count for the US-based arm of The Audubon Society.

From sunset until sundown the volunteers, removed from the hustle and bustle of urban landscape, were able to tally the number of bird species within a more tranquil 15-mile diameter.

“The results vary from team to team depending on their findings in those particular areas – each part of the island is different.

For example, we were out at low tide on the flats on the south side of the island, and we recorded sightings that nobody else did, because that’s where the shore birds go at low tide.”

Some of the shore birds spotted included the endangered Piping Plover, the Sanderling, the Short-billed Dowitcher, the Dunlin and several gull species.

What is the Christmas Bird Count?
The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is a long-standing program of the National Audubon Society, with over 100 years of community science involvement. It is an early-winter bird census, where thousands of volunteers across the U.S., Canada, and many countries in the Western Hemisphere go out over a 24-hour period on one calendar day to count birds.

About the Audubon Society
The National Audubon Society protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow, throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation. Since 1905, Audubon’s vision has been a world in which people and wildlife thrive. 

Photographed are some of the unique and beautiful bird species participants of the annual Christmas Bird Count spotted while on watch during the census in December. (Photo credit: Elijah Sands)

Turkey Vulture - The Turkey Vulture was unusually spotted in New Providence during the annual Christmas Bird Count.

The endangered Piping Plover

The Short-billed Dowitcher