The annual Christmas Bird Count was held this year on December 17th. Twenty-three participants once again took to the “fields” to cover our count circle. Although the weather was cold with temperatures near freezing, the day was mostly sunny making for a great day to be outside. An impressive total of 73 species were found, but only 8,204 individuals were counted. Our ten-year averages are 64 species and 12,374 individuals; while our average for all 78 counts conducted are 50 species and 9,648 individuals.

Two species were new to the count – one Cackling Goose (split from Canada Goose a few years ago) found by Bill Murphy’s group and one Pine Warbler found by Rick White and Pam Seretny. A Common Goldeneye was found by Jamie Stewart’s group – this was only the second time it had been found on the Count (another single bird was found in 1980). Other unusual sightings were Lesser Black-backed Gull (counted twice before), Northern Pintail (8 previous counts) and Eastern Phoebe (8 previous counts). The Baltimore Oriole spotted by Steve Lawrence’s group was another unexpected find. A record count of 400 Brown-headed Cowbirds was found by Keith Russell.

Birds seen in less than average numbers include Mallard (431 individuals), Black Vulture (1), Belted Kingfisher (3), Hairy Woodpecker (7), American Robin (416), Northern Mockingbird 26), and Eastern Starling (451). American Kestrel was missed on the Count Day, but was spotted during the week before the Count.

Blue Jays, which had been seen in much smaller numbers the past few years (perhaps due to West Nile Virus), rebounded in this year’s count. A total of 266 were found. The 122 American Crows counted this year was only a slight improvement over last year’s count of 78.

Thanks to everyone who went out looking for birds; without your help and participation Christmas Bird Counts don’t succeed. Thanks go to Martin Selzer for suggestions and guidance during my first year as Compiler, and to Bert Filemyr for his statistical wizardry again this year. Thanks also to Val Best for contributing the snacks and goodies at the compilation.

Next year’s count will be on December 16th, so mark you calendars now.

~ Andy Fayer