Christmas Bird Counts

[William H Kaempfer]

Christmas Bird Count season is coming up soon—the first counts will be Saturday, December 14^th, and the count period extends until Sunday January 5^th.   The count period this year allows us the unusual situation of counts on 4 weekends this year, so there is no excuse for not getting out and counting.

 

Audubon’s CBC website is now up and running.  There were 48 counts in Colorado last year and I hope all of those, and then some, are held again this year.  (Compilers please post the dates of you count if you have yet to do so.)

 

Last year, Colorado recorded the national high for 17 species and two additional forms.  These high counts were spread over 13 different CBCs.

 

Gunnison Sage-Grouse CW (CO, Gunnison)

White-tailed Ptarmigan 4 (CO, Rocky Mountain N.P.)

Scaled Quail 187 (CO, Pueblo Reservoir)

Eurasian Collared-Dove 3177 (CO, Fort Collins)

Western Screech-Owl 64 (CO, Grand Junction)

Boreal Owl 2 (CO, Fairplay)

American Three-toed Woodpecker 8 (CO, Grand Mesa)

Northern Shrike 14 (CO, Loveland, and Pueblo Reservoir) and 4 others

Mountain Chickadee 682 (CO, Evergreen-Idaho Springs)

Pygmy Nuthatch 1046 (CO, Evergreen-Idaho Springs)

American Dipper 36 (CO, Aspen) plus 1 other

Townsend's Solitaire 283 (CO, Boulder)

Dark-eyed (White-winged) Junco 65 (CO, Boulder)

Dark-eyed (Cassiar) Junco 18 (CO, Loveland)

Lapland Longspur 22,374 (CO, Flagler)

Black Rosy-Finch 225 (CO, Grand Mesa)

Brown-capped Rosy-Finch 348 (CO, Westcliffe)

 

This is a pretty neat list with two owl, two “chickens” and Northern Shrike along with many of our usual mountain species.  But I want to single out Tom Hall, in particular, for counting all of those Eurasian Collared-Doves in Ft. Collins!

 

To sign up for a count or find out more information, visit  www.christmasbirdcount.org

 

Bill Kaempfer

President, CFO

Boulder