Keeping Count of the Flocks

Despite the frosty morning gale, which kept many birds hunkered down and out of sight, this year's hunt yielded 94 species. That is a healthy number, especially compared with the record of 99, Coleman said, though he acknowledged that a high turnout of volunteers would yield a higher count of species.

Audubon will take into consideration the number of volunteers and miles walked, among other factors, when processing the data, he said.

In addition to that piece of good news, census-takers came across several unusual species. Aside from the shrike, a threatened species in Virginia, a plum find was a black-crowned night heron that one group spotted at dusk in Leesburg. And a team canvassing the wetlands near the airport heard the distinctive quick chirps of a Virginia rail, a creature that is almost always detected by its call, Coleman said.

Another interesting result that Coleman noticed was the high number of ravens spotted. In the early years of the Loudoun count, the group would see just a couple of the haunting, blue-black birds, he said. On Wednesday, they counted more than two dozen.

He guessed that the ravens -- which in this region typically frequent more remote, mountainous areas -- have grown more comfortable with the presence of humans as the county has become more suburban.

Though the count is a scientific activity, it is also an educational one designed to expose inexperienced bird-watchers to nature and the creatures that share the Earth.

"It's always fun to introduce the natural world to people who are not used to it," Coleman said. Noticing the birds "makes life a little fuller."

"You really appreciate how phenomenal the world is, and how diverse it is."