All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center

THE COUNT

Each winter, Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History organizes and compiles the York/Rock Hill, South Carolina Christmas Bird Count, under auspices of the National Audubon Society. This event usually occurs the Saturday before Christmas but in 2023 this is Christmas Eve weekend; thus, the 33nd annual count--weather permitting--will be on 30 December 2023. The count was initiated in 1991 to help provide a more accurate census of the numbers and species of birds present in central York County during winter.

The count begins when participants (high school age and older) gather promptly at 6:15 a.m. on the designated day at the Burger King on S.C. 161 at Newport just west of Rock Hill. (This is a location change from previous years.)

NOTE: Any current and appropriate COVID precautions will be observed during all activities related to the count.

On the first 32 counts (1991-2022), sightings were made of 135,284 birds from 112 species, including rare Southern Bald Eagles, wintering Rufous Hummingbirds, and more common Belted Kingfishers (above right). Of all species recorded, 21 have been seen on every count.

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center

According to count founder Dr. Bill Hilton Jr., the Center's executive director, "Our best year for species was 80 in 2000, and we had a record high of 12,945 individuals in 1994 when large flocks of Cedar Waxwings and American Robins swelled our numbers. We last added a new species in 2020 when a Black-and-white Warbler was spotted at the Winthrop College Farm in Rock Hill. In 2017, 1,500 individual Bonaparte's Gulls (above) and seven Pileated Woodpeckers (male, below) set new local highs for these two species." (Results of our counts from 2000 onward are linked from the list at the end of this page.)

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center

Beginning before sunrise and finishing at dusk (or later), participants identify and tally birds seen and/or heard in an area inscribed by a circle 15 miles in diameter and centered where Tools Fork Creek flows beneath SC Hwy 5 (West Main Street) just west of Northwestern High School (center coordinates are 34° 57' 23.57" N, 81º 06' 24.64" W; in decimal degrees that's N34.956547, W81.106844; see map below). Participants are assigned a section of the circle and are expected to spend the day covering the area by car and on foot--perhaps even by canoe or bicycle!

The circle comprises all of Rock Hill and the Winthrop College Farm, the eastern third of the City of York (including Hilton Pond Center), the southern end of Lake Wylie and Tega Cay, and the Catawba River from the dam to the I-77 bridge; it extends from Ogden in the south almost to the pinnacle of Nanny's (Ferguson's) Mountain to the north. This circle's amazingly diverse habitats--including river bottomland, pine woods, thickets, hardwood stands, open fields, a large lake, and urbanized areas--provide a variety of bird life and an enjoyable day in the field.

Please note the count circle includes campuses of four area high schools (Northwestern, Rock Hill, South Pointe, and York), York Technical College, Clinton College, and Winthrop University. Students and faculty in biology and other disciplines at these institutions are especially welcome to participate in our annual bird survey.

Homebound persons and others living within the count circle may choose to conduct a "feeder watch" and count birds (such as chickadees, sparrows, finches, and Mourning Doves, above left) that come to backyards during the count day. Feeder watchers should transmit tallies to RESEARCH by 8 p.m. the day of the count; owls and other nocturnal species can be counted from 12:01 a.m. through 11:59 p.m. on count day. (A follow-up e-mail describing nocturnal sightings can also be sent.)

In normal years participants reassemble for lunch near noon and report in with the day's results at about 5:30 p.m. A $5 participation fee is no longer required by Audubon, but donations are always welcome in support of Hilton Pond Center and its many initiatives in environmental education, natural history research, and conservation.

NOTE TO PARTICIPANTS: It is requested you report to eBird the species lists and tallies for YOUR SECTOR(S)--ONE report per sector. Protocols for doing this are at eBirding your Christmas Bird Count.

Persons interested in participating in person or as feeder observers should contact compiler Dr. Bill Hilton Jr. via RESEARCH no later than the afternoon of 28 December 2022.

Happy Birding!

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center

Old Map of the York/Rock Hill Christmas Bird Count Circle (above)

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center

Revised Map of the York/Rock Hill Christmas Bird Count Circle
Click on new map above to open a larger, more legible version

Click on the links below for enlarged revised versions
of each sector

Sector 1--York
Sector 2--Tirzah
Sector 3 & 4--Big Allison & Little Allison
Sector 5--Newport
Sector 6--Riverview
Sector 7--Red River
Sector 8--Ogden
Sector 9--Guthriesville
Sector 10--South Central
Sector 11--North Central

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