Christmas Bird Count Tragedy

Onik Arian was taking advantage of a break in the storm to go out on the Crescent City [California] jetty and spot a few birds Sunday.

That's when a wave swept the local emergency room physician off the concrete breakwater into the rocks below, where he died of blunt force head trauma.

An avid bird-watcher for many years, Arian was taking part in the National Audubon Society's annual holiday bird count early Sunday.

Click here to read the rest of the story from the The Daily Triplicate. This is the first I’ve ever heard of someone dying while participating in a Christmas Bird Count (but that's probably not something Audubon would choose to publicize). I wonder if there have been other mortalities in the past? The manner in which Dr. Arian died is particularly tragic.