A chance meeting with a gray jay on Harney Peak was the beginning of a love for birding for Michael Melius of Rapid City. Almost 30 years to the day of that sighting, the same species greeted him as he ventured out Dec. 16 in the early morning of the 2007 Christmas Bird Count.

"That happens to a lot of people. They have a breakthrough experience that leads them to a love for birding," he said. Some of those Rapid City bird lovers became citizen scientists for a day to take part in the 108-year-old bird counting expedition headed up by the National Audubon Society.

The organized event was in response to a "big hunt" that bird shooters used to indulge in at the turn of the last century, a practice of going out and seeing how many birds they could shoot. John Audubon, noted naturalist and bird artist and the man the society was named after, used shot models for his paintings. In both instances, the rarer the bird, the better.

This is the 55th year that Rapid City has been a part of the cross-country project. It is sponsored by Prairie Hills Audubon chapter.

Jason Tinant, who teaches environmental science at Oglala Lakota College, said the findings give a good longitudinal timeline.

"The Rapid City count is a 15-mile diameter, so in a week or two weeks, everyone is counting, so it gives a good snapshot," he said. "It's very different from if you're going out and intensely monitoring an area."

He said studying the entire country reveals some migration trends. "My feeling is kind of overall, you see fewer rare birds now than you used to in the past. If you look at that long-term data, you see more trash birds. But there's also some new things like pigmy nuthatches started showing up. I think it started down in the Wind Cave count maybe eight or 10 years ago. They've been getting more and more common, which is a cool thing."

Wind Cave also held a bird count on the same day to document the wintering birdlife.

The draw for most participants, Melius said, is to find something rare, to contribute to science and to socialize.

Butch Knight of Rapid City wouldn't call himself a birder. He came Sunday to hang out with his friends and to learn.

"I'm a mountain biker," he said, as he pointed out a wood duck floating in Rapid Creek. He said he does watch for birds on his rides and has learned from his friend Melius.

"We're lucky to have as much access to wildlife as we do. It's pretty incredible in this area," he said.

Melius, Tinant and Knight, with his 8-month-old son Jupiter tagging along in a backpack carrier, stopped midway across a food bridge over Rapid Creek and lifted their binoculars in unison, all pointed at their find - a green wing teal duck, a good start to the beginning of their afternoon hike.

Melius said that counters sometimes need only stand in one place for a while to be rewarded with such a sighting. "There's something to be said for standing in place and waiting for the birds to come to you."

At the end of the day, 17 field observers who walked, drove or even pedaled to look for birds, along with eight feeder watchers, compiled their findings.

Melius started his day about 6:30 a.m. along Rapid Creek and went out Sheridan Lake, where he spotted lots of white- and red-breasted nuthatches. "They were the bird of the day," he said.

Along with black-capped chickadees, these are three common birds brought into backyard feeders. He said the species seems to be recovering from recent population declines, possibly related to the West Nile virus.

In all, 58 species were reported in the Rapid City bird count, with no new species sightings. Melius said it was a fairly average year.

Missing from this year's sightings include Wilson's snipe, golden eagle, great horned owl, northern shrike and golden-crowned kinglet. Melius said their absence is most likely a matter of luck and doesn't indicate any trend.

Ring-necked pheasants, belted kingfishers, pinyon jays, gray jays and evening grosbeaks continue their downward trends of the past 10 or so years. Red-tailed hawks were down from their numbers in recent years.

He said Canada geese reached a new high number of 1,520 this year. Mallards totaled nearly 2,000 birds, the second-highest. Other all-time highs include 12 hooded mergansers, usually found on Canyon Lake. Counters tallied six eastern screech owls, which Melius said may be due to the maturation of deciduous trees in the Rapid City area.

The gray jays that Melius spotted first thing in the morning alerted him to a screech owl.

The jays were acting flamboyantly as a defense mechanism to their perceived predator. "The owl at that point is just trying to go to sleep for the day. The owl was buried in a pine tree, so that was pretty exciting."

As coordinator of the Christmas Bird Count, he said he was pleased with the increased number of participants this year and the mild weather.

"No wind is really good. It might have been nice to have had some more cold snaps. Sometimes that brings birds in." He said the mild weather was good for birds as well as the people counting them. He said previous years have been less kind weather-wise with snow and very cold temperatures.

To find out how to participate in next year's Christmas Count, go to www.audubon.org/bird/cbc/getinvolved.html.