This past Saturday nine intrepid birders from near and far conducted the 40th Farmington Christmas Bird Count. Despite apparently tying the record for the coldest start to the day (-20 F), which noticeably depressed bird activity early in the morning, we ended with a respectable 37 species, higher than the Modern Era* five-year mean of 35.6. We recorded a total of 2,150 individual birds, 33.8% of which were Black-capped Chickadees. Highlights included Rusty Blackbird, Horned Lark, Lapland Longspur, Northern Shrike, and Northern Mockingbird. Rare for this count, a Hermit Thrush was in the same neighborhood where one was found last year, suggesting a returning bird. Finches (except American Goldfinch) were, as elsewhere, scarce, but we did manage to find 4 Purple Finches and a single Common Redpoll. Similarly scarce this winter, we were lucky to find one group of 48 Bohemian Waxwings. It almost goes without saying that, with temperatures in the minus twenties, nobody went owling. Next year we plan to beat the all-time high count of 44 species!
Trevor
*The Modern Era is defined as the period since I became involved with the count, i.e., Winter of 2008/2009 to the present.
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Trevor Persons, Herpetology
USGS Southwest Biological Science Center
Colorado Plateau Research Station, Flagstaff, AZ
CURRENT ADDRESS:
Trevor Persons
206 Bigelow Hill Road
Norridgewock, Maine 04957
(207) 634-2280
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