It was a great day to count the birds!! Bright and sunny day with calm winds and temperatures ranging from mid-40’s to low 50’s. The usual Winter population of song birds was present although some birds, like the Great Horned Owl seen on consecutive days on its roost, were missing.

The variety and number of ducks were lower than the past few censuses. There were 50 Common Mergansers seen on the lake the previous day but only three on the count day. The only other ducks recorded were three Ring-necked Ducks. We had a nice variety of raptors yet did not get the most common, Red-tailed Hawk. Red-bellied Woodpecker continues to be very abundant and we saw all the other common woodpeckers except  Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (it was seen the day before). We heard Red-winged Blackbirds in the marsh area but only managed to see one female. No Fish Crows were seen or heard–  yet a few days before over 100 were seen around the Rancocas Creek.

The best bird of the day was seen and heard by Pete McCord who was out testing his new hearing aids. Pete got a Pine Siskin near the community garden area. That is a first on the Winter Census, although it has occasionally been recorded at feeders. It seems like in life it is all a matter of timing.

Participants: Dino Fiabane, Robert Koch, Pete McCord, Jeanette Peterson and Miriam Swartz. Guest: Carol Bishop. Feeder data: Joe Costanza, Jean and Joe Jordan.