Armed with binoculars, notebooks and dog-eared field guides, citizen scientists opened the New Year stomping through fields and hiking the beaches surrounding Jordan Lake searching for birds during the 112th Annual National Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count.

From the tiniest tufted titmouse to the mighty bald eagle, all winged creatures, seen or heard, were recorded.

Patrick Coin of Durham brought along Bacon, his 4-month-old puppy, who was more interested in digging up carcasses of dead fish than looking for birds.

Coin, who has been interested in birds since he was 9 years old, has participated in the Christmas count, which took place on New Year's day, for the past 18 years.

He is patient as he flips page after page of his field guide, pointing out dozens of different types of sparrows, all of which look exactly alike to a beginner.

"Identifying birds takes practice, sort of like getting to know people," he said. "After you get to know someone, you can recognize their voice and the way they move. It is that way with birds too."

'Have fun'

Martha Girolami of Apex, a fellow birder on Coin's counting team, asked how many fox sparrows he has seen.

"Bunches," Coin said.

"There is no scientific method to counting," said Norman Budnitz of Durham. "The main thing is to just have fun and to try to see birds you have never seen before."

Budnitz is president of the New Hope Audubon Society, whose members covered the Jordan Lake bird count. Other bird clubs participated in counts throughout the state.

Sue Fisher, who lives near Jordan Lake, is a kayaker and a casual birdwatcher. She participated in the Christmas Count for the first time.

"I just wanted to learn what there is out here to see," she said. "You get so accustomed to what you notice every day, and out here you just go, 'Wow, there's a lot more out there.' "

Counting and ranking

Around the turn of the 20th Century, scientists and early conservation advocates became concerned over declining wildlife populations. On Christmas Day 1900, ornithologist and Audubon Society officer Frank Chapman started an annual bird count, which has become a holiday tradition, according to the National Audubon Society's website.

Today, the Audubon Society estimates that tens of thousands of bird enthusiasts participated in bird counts all over the country during the counting period Dec. 14-Jan. 5.

The Jordan Lake count, like others across the United States, took place in defined circles about 15 miles in diameter, according to Budnitz. Over a single 24-hour period, birders fanned out in their designated circles, some going out before dawn to count owls. Other groups met at varying hours.

Coin's five-person team met at the Farrington Point Boat Ramp at 7 a.m. and throughout the morning recorded a variety of birds including tufted titmice, sparrows, turkey vultures, great blue herons, cormorants, gulls and a single majestic bald eagle.

Budnitz had compiled a list of birds the counters might see around the lake, and ranked them from common fowl such as ring-billed gulls to extremely rare, such as the red-throated loon.

At noon, the teams gathered for lunch and a countdown. Budnitz ran down his species list and counters reported their sightings.

Seeing trends

Altogether, the teams spotted 83 different species.

Budnitz recorded the number of each species, the time of day and location they were seen, and the names of each person participating in the count.

He will submit the data to the National Audubon Society.

"If you provide consistent coverage of the same area year after year, you can determine changes in bird populations," he said. "Over time you can see trends. In the Eastern part of the United States, there used to be a lot of grassland birds, such as meadowlarks and bobwhites, but by the time the 1970s rolled around, they had all but disappeared. This has been attributed to a declining habitat."

While unseasonably warm weather made the day pleasant for humans spending hours outdoors, it did not favor bird watching.

"It was a nice day, and they say good birding does not occur in good weather," said Tom Krakauer, Museum of Life & Science chairman emeritus, who has been participating in the bird count since 1985. "It was hard to count, because at first light there was fog over the lake."

Budnitz loves the idea of making a contribution to a cause larger than himself. He has been counting birds in the same areas year after year, and knows the species he expects to see.

"It's like getting to know your back yard," he said. "This is citizen science in its purest form."