Misery Township CBC, 12/30/19
Rob O'Connell
With this past week’s storms possibly hitting the area around the Forks, I decided to run the 36th Misery Township CBC on Monday 12/30/2019.
Myself and two intrepid volunteers, Kate Weatherby and Ruth Keister, set out to tackle the circle, shortly after 8 AM. We would have been there sooner but were sidetracked on the way up watching a Coyote (possibly 2), a Bald Eagle, a Common Raven, and several American Crows, jostle for scraps of a deer carcass.
When we arrived in The Forks Plantation, we were met with overcast skies and temps in the mid 20’s and winds were 5-15 mph although that was mostly felt when near the power lines or the shores of the lakes and rivers.
The moving water was more open than it has been in recent years with even some of the slower eddies not quite frozen. Many of the smaller streams that passed near or under the roads had patches of open water. With the exception of Route 201, the roads were covered in packed snow for the most part and icy in places including the Capital Road Section.
For Misery the count is usually very low when compared with other counts around the state. In the 36 years it has been run, the average species count is 22 with the average total birds being 581
As has been experienced on the other counts I have done this year, feeder activity has been less than normal and birds seem to just be deeper in the woods.
This year, we were at the average of 22 species with slightly lower than average 442 individuals.
Here were the species noted during the count along with the historical high/average and number of counts present.
| Species | 2019 | High Count | Average Count | Number of Counts Present |
| Ruffed Grouse [Bonasa umbellus] |
4 | 18 | 5 | 32 |
| Bald Eagle [Haliaeetus leucocephalus] |
5 | 5 | 2 | 25 |
| Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) [Columba livia (Feral Pigeon)] |
3 | 18 | 7 | 9 |
| Mourning Dove [Zenaida macroura] |
5 | 8 | 3 | 16 |
| Downy Woodpecker [Picoides pubescens] |
14 | 20 | 8 | 35 |
| Hairy Woodpecker [Picoides villosus] |
9 | 20 | 7 | 35 |
| Pileated Woodpecker [Dryocopus pileatus] |
2 | 10 | 4 | 27 |
| Gray Jay [Perisoreus canadensis] |
11 | 16 | 5 | 33 |
| Blue Jay [Cyanocitta cristata] |
44 | 72 | 26 | 36 |
| American Crow [Corvus brachyrhynchos] |
19 | 57 | 9 | 33 |
| Common Raven [Corvus corax] |
14 | 85 | 23 | 36 |
| Black-capped Chickadee [Poecile atricapillus] |
153 | 340 | 156 | 36 |
| Boreal Chickadee [Poecile hudsonicus] |
3 | 32 | 8 | 29 |
| Red-breasted Nuthatch [Sitta canadensis] |
32 | 121 | 27 | 36 |
| White-breasted Nuthatch [Sitta carolinensis] |
8 | 8 | 4 | 25 |
| Golden-crowned Kinglet [Regulus satrapa] |
24 | 131 | 21 | 30 |
| Northern Cardinal [Cardinalis cardinalis] |
1 | 4 | 2 | 13 |
| Purple Finch [Haemorhous purpureus] |
21 | 264 | 45 | 14 |
| Red Crossbill [Loxia curvirostra] |
13 | 66 | 15 | 13 |
| White-winged Crossbill [Loxia leucoptera] |
27 | 670 | 106 | 19 |
| Pine Siskin [Spinus pinus] |
8 | 404 | 106 | 19 |
| American Goldfinch [Spinus tristis] |
22 | 279 | 83 | 24 |
Kinglets were numerous as they have been on other counts. The Crossbills were out and very noisy. Notable misses were sparrows although only American Tree Sparrows tend to be up this way normally. Brown Creepers have been seen half the years and we thought we heard one at one point but it was only a single call and not conclusive among the chatter. We had another interesting observation while pishing along the Indian Pond Road, where we were we were unable to get a group of chickadees to cross the powerline cut. We were not sure if perhaps there was a predator nearby that was out of our sightline, or if they were just weighing in on the CMP corridor debate. If so, they clearly were not fans. 😊
Cheers and Happy New Year to everyone!
Rob O’Connell
490 Greely Road Extension
Cumberland, ME 04021