This year 45 field birders and 12 observers at feeders identified 19,645 birds of 66 species during our Middlebury Christmas Bird Count on Sunday, Dec. 15. Our total of 66 species is just below our average of 67 species over the last 36 years of our count. Our highest total number of species found was 77 species found in 2011 and 2012

We survey a 15-mile-diameter count circle centered on the Lemon Fair in eastern Bridport and covering from the A & W Root Beer stand on the east to New York State on the west and from Snake Mt. on the north to Richville Dam on the south. The Middlebury count is one of over 2,400 held throughout North and Central America.

Owlers started the day in the predawn blackness and field birders headed out at first light, for a full day of birding. A dozen others who lived within our count circle simply watched their feeders off and on during the day and reported what they saw.

We held our post-count compilation potluck at the home of Kris and Jim Andrews in Salisbury. Those who did not attend e-mailed in their results. Additional report forms from feeder-watchers and field teams came in over the next few days. The complete results of our count have been entered online and made available for casual browsing or scientific study at the National Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC) website. Those results are available at (https://www.audubon.org/conservation/science/christmas-bird-count).

One reason for our slightly lower-than-average species count this year was that despite the warm weather earlier in the fall, the temperature dropped to well below freezing during the few days before the count. That meant that most still water bodies froze almost entirely, including the south end of Lake Champlain. When that happens, many of the ducks and other water-related birds either move south to the Atlantic coast or move just a few miles north into the main body of Lake Champlain. As a result, we located only 13 of the 44 water-related species found during our count over its history. This is one above our average of 12 water-related species.

On the other hand, most moving water, such as Otter Creek, was still open. As a result, our teams managed to find 4 Great Blue Herons, a single Hooded Merganser, 15 Common Mergansers, and even a Belted Kingfisher in or along our rivers. There are also some waterfowl that like to graze in open fields. Consequently, with no snow cover during the count, the teams reported record numbers of both Canada Geese (5,679) and Snow Geese (4,813) still feeding and moving around within our valley. Jenn Megyesi identified a Common Loon flying south over her team’s territory in Bridport, and Chris Slesar, Jim Andrews, and Kate Kelly found a female Greater Scaup on a tiny patch of open water just south of the Lake Champlain Bridge.

When we have snow cover during the count, small ground-feeding birds such as Horned Larks and Snow Buntings often feed along the plowed margins of roads. With no snow cover, these birds are widely dispersed away from roads and not as easy to find. Many of them do not come south into our valley at all since they can find open ground to feed on much further north. Still, our teams managed to find some of these northern visitors. They reported 70 Snow Buntings (count average is 325) and 82 Horned Larks (count average is 338). Other northern visitors such as redpolls, crossbills, longspurs, and grosbeaks were not found at all. Over the history of our count, we have found a total of 12 species of seed- and fruit-eating birds that occasionally travel south to spend the winter in the Lake Champlain Basin. This year only three of those species were found.

We were also unable to find many of the northern predators that occasionally visit our valley. Northern Shrikes, Snowy Owls, Short-eared Owls, and Saw-whet Owls were not found at all.

Other than the two geese species, we did not find any species in record numbers. However, some of our local breeders were in unusually high numbers. Birds in that category include 282 Wild Turkeys (average 128), 63 Common Ravens (average 27), 8 Northern Mockingbirds (average 4), and 664 Dark-eyed Juncos (average 315). Our 37 Northern Harriers (average 15) were also found in unusually high numbers, but I suspect they were a combination of local breeders and visiting migrants.

In addition to the species mentioned above, species found by only one team were the pair of Peregrine Falcons found by the team of Jim Andrews, Chris Slesar, and Kate Kelly; the single Northern Goshawk found by the team of Ethan Fenn and Anna and Jenn Megyesi; the single Savannah Sparrow and Long-eared Owl found by Mike and Cedar Winslow, a single Hermit Thrush and Red-winged Blackbird found by the team of Diane Burbank, Sue Staats, and Dick Harlow, a pair of Purple Finches found by Annie Claghorn, Catlin Fox, Barbara Brosnan, and John Chamberlain, and a single Yellow-rumped Warbler found by Ron Payne, Carolyn Jackson, and Andrea Landsberg. The Belted Kingfisher and the Hooded Merganser mentioned previously, were found along Otter Creek by the team consisting of David Guertin, Natalia Perchemlides, and Janie Simmons.

The only species present but found in unusually low numbers were the 289 American Crows (average 937). I suspect that this number is low only because none of our teams was in the right place and at the right time to see them coming together to roost as it got dark.

Our totals for owls this year were 5 Screech Owls (average 4), 5 Great Horned Owls (average 7), 14 Barred Owls (average 6), and the one Long-eared Owl (average 0.3) mentioned above. Although 8 of the Barred Owls were found during the day, all of the other owls listed were found only by our intrepid owlers who started birding as early as 2:45 AM. This year our owlers were Sue Staats, Diane Burbank, Natalia Perchemlides, and Cedar and Mike Winslow.

A Christmas Bird Count is a team effort between daytime and nighttime field teams and feeder watchers. Although our number of individuals on the field teams continues to be high, the number of people watching their feeders is low. We need additional people who live within the count circle, can identify the birds they are seeing, and are interested in reporting what they see at their feeders. We would also love to have more young birders join our field teams. Anyone under 40 looks young to most of us. If you are interested in reporting your feeder birds or participating on a field team next year, contact Jim or Kris Andrews at 802-352-4734 or [email protected]. Thanks again to all the volunteers and landowners.