Local Audubon Society Publishes Book for Bucks County Bird Enthusiasts

A perfect companion for spring sojourns, Birds of Bucks County is an updated birder compendium for newcomers and seasoned bird watchers alike.

From waterways and wetlands to farms, grasslands, meadows and marshes, Birds of Bucks County will help outdoor enthusiasts and bird watchers identify, learn about and actually spot these feathered wonders.

“Birds of Bucks County lists the species of birds you’ll see, what time of year you can expect to see them and where to go to see them,” said Michael Celec, executive director of Bucks County Audubon Society at Honey Hollow in Solebury Township.

Celec and others associated with the book provided information and received a service acknowledgement at the Bucks County Commissioners regular business meeting April 2.

Coauthor Sally Conyne of Bucks County Birders said the new book is much more than a standard identification guide that provides pictures and bird names.

The comprehensive release includes a range of data-confirmed bird sightings – from those participating in field “citizen science” to historical documentation for a total of 370 feathered visitors to Bucks County.

“Over the last 200 years a single long-billed murrelet [came] to Nockamixon from the Pacific Northwest,” Conyne said at the commissioners meeting.

The book also includes information, maps and directions to about 70 parks and visitor accessible open areas suitable for birding and other outdoor activities, she said.

Birds of Bucks County is spiral bound and at 358 pages the new book is ideal for field use, Celec said. He added that county commissioners provided $2,500 in funding to produce and publish the book.

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Birds of Bucks County is available at Bucks County Audubon Society visitor center along with other locations including Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve, Commonplace Reader in Yardley and Peddler’s Village Visitor’s Center in Lahaska.It is also available for purchase on the Bucks County Audubon Society website and the Bucks County Birders website. Book costs range from $30 for retail sale pickup to $35.50 for home delivery.

“Some of the reports that have been pulled together in this book are from the 19^th Century,” Conyne said, “many are from the last 30 or 40 years.”

Since 2000, electronic data checklists have been collected by participants hiking in Peace Valley Park and other locations. And more than 150,000 bird reports were sent to Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, New York, according to Conyne.

 “All that data has been digested and is presented here,” she said.