Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge is located in the middle of nowhere. More or less. In the winter it feels especially isolated, with little traffic on the roads, and the knowledge that if you break down, you're going to be on your own for awhile. Although many people might not visit Fish Springs in the winter, it's many birds do visit, and quite a few stay. Warm springs and plentiful food provide an important wintering area for many species. To find out just how many species, the refuge holds an annual Christmas Bird Count. This year it was on Saturday, January 5.
The day started below 0 degrees Fahrenheit. The cold probably scared off some potential counters, and only five people participated in the count. After receiving our assignments, we headed off to different parts of the refuge to see what might be out in the cold.
Inversions have caused the trees to frost over, but that didn't stop a couple golden eagles from perching on them. Later we saw a rough-legged hawk here at Thomas' Ranch, and other folks saw a bald eagle.
The cold extended right down to the water's edge, but the springheads were still pumping out water. Steam rose from many of the springs, giving the area an otherworldly look.
We had an excellent view of these Virginia rails, and we saw five in our count area alone. Other highlights were short-eared owls, one ring-billed gull, many northern harriers, lots of pied-billed grebes, and five great blue herons. Other counters saw swans and lots of ducks.
In the afternoon, the refuge conducted the mid-winter waterfowl count. I personally only saw about 500 birds, but in total over 3,000 were counted. Wow!
Fish Springs is such an amazing place, and it was a real treat to see what it was like in winter. Volunteers can stay in the bunkhouse, a very nice, warm home away from home. I'd highly recommend visiting--and if you like birds, volunteering for next year's Christmas Bird Count!
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