by Lou Ann Harris
For most of us who are members of SAS, it seems like John Parker has always been in charge of our annual Christmas Bird Counts (CBCs). Well, that’s because he really has. After serving 31 years as the Bozeman CBC compiler, John is passing the baton to Sam Koenen.
John took over the count from former SAS President Jim Sparks in 1993, but John’s involvement in the area CBCs goes back a few years earlier. As a novice birder, John’s first count was in Ennis in 1984, joining Mary Geis and Jean Thorsen. He also participated in the Three Forks count that year. In those early years, it was sometimes difficult to get enough birders to cover all the routes. John remembers driving to the Three Forks count after a terrible Christmas blizzard. He was by himself that day. The starting temperature was minus 14 degrees. He found many roads were not plowed and impassable. However, John found some good birds, including a Rusty Blackbird, Sharp-tailed Grouse and a Short-eared Owl.
Besides dealing with bad weather and bad roads, John also rescued a couple of lost animals during the CBC. While hiking the Kirk Hill loop during one count, John heard a pitiful cry. He tracked it down and found a little dog completely weighed down with snowballs stuck to its fur, and unable to move. He picked it up and took it over to the Kirk family’s house at the bottom of the hill. They were able to reunite the dog with its owner. The most memorable story, however, concerns John and Tamie’s cat, River. John was doing the SW section of the Bozeman count in 2007 with Beth Kaeding and Mary Griffiths. It had been bitter cold and snowy. Along River Rd., they noticed a black cat. John walked down to investigate, and the cat came over as soon as John extended his hand. The cat was just a skeleton and had obviously been living rough for some time. John picked him up. Back in the car, they fed him part of a turkey sandwich and gave him some water. Beth volunteered to take him to the pound, while John and Mary finished up their route. A few days later, John and Tamie visited the cat to see how he was doing. They held and petted him and that sealed the deal. They adopted him a few days after, and named him River, since they found him on River Rd. River was an indoor cat after that, not having any interest in going outside where there were wild animals. He was perfectly content to stay inside where there was food, warmth and safety.
During all those years of compiling data, John has had a valuable partner in wife Tamie, who created the spreadsheets and typed the summaries. John would like to thank her for all that work. Special recognition also goes to past members Ray and Eva Hays who hosted the count after-party for many years. After the Hays, many of us remember packing into Jean Perkins little house on Rouse after a cold day in the field. Jean would greet us at the door with a mug of hot cider, and after settling on a chair or on the floor in her living room, dozens of home-baked cookies awaited. Jean hosted the party for 25 years until Beth Madden & Bill Klenn took over in 2019.
John pointed out that the Bozeman CBC has been held for 85 years, and every year since 1955. It holds the record for the first CBC held in Montana (1908); the most counts held in Montana (85); the longest consecutive number of years (68), and of course, the most Black-billed Magpies seen in the nation (1,718 in 2023). The first count done in 1908 netted only 12 species, when Aretas A. Saunders went by horse & wagon. He did two counts; one on Dec. 21st in Bozeman Creek Canyon, Gallatin National Forest, and one in Bozeman on Dec. 25th. By comparison, the 2023 CBC tallied 70 species. The increasing numbers of species over the years can be attributed to more birders, better optics and better access (i.e. more roads). 2023’s count had 63 participants and 11 feeder watchers.
I asked John what his best bird was during all those counts. One of the best, he said, was a Varied Thrush that had shown up along the Gallagator Trail near his residence.
For John, the count has certainly changed over the years, as Bozeman has changed. One thing that hasn’t changed is the fun, camaraderie and gathering important data to help our wild birds. Thank you John, for your years of dedication.
