This column is the first of three summarizing the results of some of the recent Christmas Bird Counts in Maine. We\u2019ll cover some inland sites in today\u2019s report.<\/p>\n
The Lewiston-Auburn Count, held on December 20, yielded a count of 44 species. A singleton Green-winged Teal was found, always a good inland winter sighting. The 28 Lesser Scaup were noteworthy finds. The raptor diversity was decent with a dozen Bald Eagles, four Cooper\u2019s Hawks, nine Red-tailed Hawks and one Rough-legged Hawk.<\/p>\n
Nine Red-breasted Nuthatches were a nice total in a winter where this species is uncommon. Lingering species included five Eastern Bluebirds and a Hermit Thrush.<\/p>\n
Finches were scarce with only four species found including 25 Purple Finches and four Pine Siskins.<\/p>\n
A bit north, the Hartland Count held on December 27 produced a count of 35 species. A Northern Pintail was an excellent find. Three Bald Eagles and two Red-tailed Hawks were the only raptors tallied. Sixteen Red-breasted Nuthatches were notable.<\/p>\n
A brave Great Blue Heron was found; some open water must have been present. Only two finch species were found (41 Pine Siskins and 75 American Goldfinches).<\/p>\n
Counters on the Farmington Count, held on December 20, found only 30 species. The only aquatic birds of any stripe were three Common Loons. A lone Bald Eagle was the only bird of prey.<\/p>\n
Seven Eastern Bluebirds were surprising discoveries as were the 79 American Robins. Both waxwings were present: 79 Cedar Waxwings and two Bohemian Waxwings.<\/p>\n
We continue to build evidence that this winter is a poor one for irruptive finches. In Farmington, the only finches were 14 House Finches, 15 Pine Siskins and 93 American Goldfinches.<\/p>\n
The Unity count was also held on December 20. This count was excellent with 49 species found, reflecting in part the army of 44 observers who participated. Unusual species included a Wood Duck, a Merlin, a Gray Catbird and a Savannah Sparrow.<\/p>\n
Waldo Count has a strong Wild Turkey population, demonstrated by the 337 turkeys found on the count. Other game birds found were four Ruffed Grouse and a Ring-necked Pheasant.<\/p>\n
Two owls were found: one Great Horned Owl and three Barred Owls. A Red-bellied Woodpecker was a pleasant surprise.<\/p>\n
One Northern Shrike was a nice find for a winter where this irruptive species seems scarce so far this winter. Snow Buntings put on a good show with 103 tallied.<\/p>\n
Six species of finches were found including a single Purple Finch, 14 Common Redpolls and two Evening Grosbeaks.<\/p>\n
Reflecting the high degree of participation, record high counts were tallied for 18 of the 49 species.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll move over to Sweden in Oxford County for a look at the results of their December 27 count. The participants found 44 species.<\/p>\n
Five species of waterfowl were found along with five Common Loons. The loons represented excellent sightings for inland Maine in late December.<\/p>\n
Four Bald Eagles and a Red-tailed Hawk were expected but not the lingering American Kestrel, a hardy bird indeed. A Snowy Owl and a Barred Owl rounded out the list of the birds of prey.<\/p>\n
Red-breasted Nuthatches were well represented with 45 individuals found. Forty-five American Robins were notable.<\/p>\n
Only two finch species were found: six Pine Siskins and 92 American Goldfinches. The highlight of the count was an eye-popping Rose-breasted Grosbeak.\u00a0\u00a0 Most members of this species are in Central America or northern South America. A super sighting!<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll end with a stop in northern Somerset Count in the Misery Township. The tough winter weather here is inhospitable for many bird diversity is usually low. This year\u2019s January 2 count was typical with 14 species found and 193 individuals. Three Gray Jays were delightful but expected in this part of the state. The only finches were five Common Redpolls.<\/p>\n
[First published on January 18, 2015]<\/p>\n\n
This column is the first of three summarizing the results of some of the recent Christmas Bird Counts in Maine. We\u2019ll cover some inland sites in today\u2019s report. The Lewiston-Auburn Count, held on December 20, yielded a count of 44 species. A singleton Green-winged Teal was found, always a good inland winter sighting. The 28 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[419],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=720"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":721,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720\/revisions\/721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}