The 20th Winter Bird Census was conducted on a bright and sunny day with winds increasing through the morning. The high winds might have accounted for the low count of song and woodland birds. We totaled 30 species (last year 37) and 828 individuals (last year 3,038). Canada Geese, Ring-billed Gulls and American Robins were the most abundant census birds. The usual numbers of wintering ducks like Pintails and Ring-necks were absent (one Pintail and no Ring-necks). Common Mergansers were abundant as well as an unusually large number of Ring-billed Gulls (91 and 125-150 respectively) that seemed to enjoy harassing the mergs on Monarch Lake. We also missed the Great Horned Owl this year but did get some lovely looks at a Cooper’s Hawk perched on a limb near the roosting tree of the GHO. Another surprising miss was the Northern Flicker.

Participants: Ethel Cebra, Dino Fiabane, Robert Koch, Miriam Swartz. Feeder data: Klaus Merkel

Text and photographs by Robert Koch