Walking nearly 20 miles and putting 162.5 miles on vehicles, all within the Yellowtail Wildlife Habitat Management Area, area birders put 58 species of birds in the books for the 35th annual Christmas Bird Count despite treacherous travel conditions after the not-so-nice ice storm the prior night.

Multiple functions were canceled Saturday, but former Northwest College professor John Campbell wasn’t about to miss the event; his 30th count.

Eighteen volunteers joined the annual count led by National Park Service superstar and Powell resident Christy Fleming, who has led the count for the past quarter century. Campbell said the drive from Powell to Lovell was an adventure.

“The drive over was terrible, but later the sun came out, it warmed up, there was no wind and we had a beautiful sky,” he said. “Actually it was a really pleasant day to be there, and it’s nice to see people out using the landscape.”

Pheasant hunters were also out, and there were a lot of people with binoculars around their necks looking for birds, he said. Despite Cody having its own count, several Cody residents managed to make it to Lovell for the count.

Starlings and rock pigeons accounted for the largest portion of more than 11,000 individual birds counted, but mallard ducks claimed a nice third place with 370 individuals counted. That’s good news for the WHMA, which is managed for waterfowl. Overall, there were seven different species of waterfowl spotted.

However, due to the unusually warm fall season, there were a few birds seen that are rarely in the area this late in the year. Kathy Lichtendahl saw a yellow warbler and was able to photograph the species that are typically en route or already in Central and South America in late December. They primarily winter in mangrove swamps, tropical forests and shrub lands, from southern Mexico down through the Amazon basin, Bolivia and Peru, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Another rare bird for the area was a lone cattle egret. The bird has been seen in the Powell area earlier this year. Western cattle egrets breed in coastal barrier islands, marshes, reservoirs, lakes, quarries, swamps, riverside woodlands and upland forests. They usually nest in colonies already established by native herons and egrets, and forage in fields with grazing livestock. During spring and fall migration they stop along marine shorelines as well as in farm fields. Some spend winters in the southern United States, mainly in coastal areas where the temperature rarely falls below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Scattered individuals spend mild winters farther north on both coasts, as far as Washington and Rhode Island. Their North American range is still expanding, according to the Lab, but this particular egret is well out of its normal range.

Open water at the management area also meant some rare (for this time of year) waterfowl were still utilizing the many ponds available, including two species of mergansers. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department management team burns off aggressive cattails about every year to make the several ponds available for waterfowl.

However, there were many species usually seen at the management area in large numbers that weren’t seen the 2025 count, Campbell said.

“It’s nice, open, agricultural land, wild land and shrub land and we only saw one red-tailed hawk and one northern Harrier,” he said. “Other than that, we didn’t see any (other raptors) and usually there are rough-legged [hawks] around at this time of year, and we usually see multiple red-tailed hawks. But just seeing those two raptors, that was a surprise.”

Other twitchers (birdwatchers willing to travel to collect sightings of rare birds) managed to find raptors on the expansive property, including a single merlin, sharp-shinned hawk and five golden eagles. The area encompasses more than 19,200 acres of varied wildlife habitat.

While Campbell is one of the area’s most active and notable birders in the Big Horn Basin, age is catching up to him — as well as several others who are long-time participants in the count. Campbell said he’d love to see young birders join the count.

“We’re mostly older birders; people who often have a little bit more flexibility with their time, of course. And they also are people who have a fair bit of experience, which is nice, but it really would be nice to see more people of the younger generation out there,” he said.

Experience is not necessary to join the count. Those inexperienced birders joining in the fun are paired with a mentor — someone willing to teach those who want to begin enjoying birdwatching. The activity can be done anywhere, from the backyard to the backcountry.

Citizen Science events are becoming more and more popular. Generally a call for volunteers will go out for these events, but the Jan. 10 Big Horn Basin Midwinter Eagle Survey, hosted by the Bureau of Land Management, has already filled up.

“We have a full group of volunteers for the event,” said Abel Guevara, wildlife biologist and wild horse specialist for the Bureau.

Interested in joining the fun? Call Christy Fleming at (307) 548-5406 for activities, future birding and volunteer opportunities at Yellowtail Wildlife Habitat Management Area.