While most of Montezuma County quietly was blanketed under a few inches of snow Friday morning, 12 diehard bird watchers bundled up and set off on the annual Cortez Audubon Christmas Bird Count.

Armed with binoculars, birding guides and notepads for recording, the pack split into three groups to cover different routes around the county with the purpose of collecting data about bird populations.

“No self-respecting bird is going to be out in this weather,” joked Judith Franklin, a retired biologist and avid birder, before her group rounded Main Street and set out on its route.

But the birds were out in full force.

Lining power lines, dotting bare trees, flitting in front-yard bird feeders and gathering by frozen ponds, numbers of different species – starlings, collared doves, American kestrels, Canada geese, mallards, crows and ravens – populated the landscape around Cortez.

“Winter is actually a great time of the year to study ducks because they have their breeding plumages in, and the colors can be absolutely beautiful,” said Carla Fox of Cortez.

While collared doves, wigeons and starlings seemed to dominate the trees. One of the highlights included a male and female wood duck sighting in Parque de Vida.

Smaller than mallards, male wood ducks boast striking green, burgundy and black markings, along with orange eyes.

The ducks aren’t native to the Southwest, so it’s especially notable that a male and female were spotted for the second consecutive year, Fox said.

While the focus of the day was to get an accurate species count, a bonus for many birders was sharing their hobby with fellow enthusiasts.

“You get in your own routine, and when you go with someone else who can show you a new place, a whole new world opens up,” said Diane Cherbak of Mancos.

Organizer Carolyn Gunn will compile data from the bird count during the next few weeks, then send the results to the Audubon Society.

Volunteers interested in helping with the data compilation or with next year’s count can call Gunn at 882-7742.