The real highlight of this years Christmas Bird Count, the 26th count
for the Stanton Bird Club, was the 21 people who participated. With
dwindling participation, it was feared we would need to eliminate part
of the area covered. A hardy thank you to all those who came out to
help. A total of 50 species and 6799 individuals were seen on this years
Christmas Bird Count. The number of species and individuals was more
than last year, and just above the average for the past 10 years of 49
species. The day dawned cold, bright, and with very little wind. It
remained sunny the whole day. Just about everything was frozen or snow
covered. Only the Androscoggin and Little Androscoggin Rivers and Lake Auburn were open.
Two new species were found this year. A Hermit Thrush was found by Doug Beck and his group along the Androscoggin on River Road, East Auburn. A few Hermit Thrush tend to leave late but this was the first for our count. One Carolina Wren was also found by Doug's group, also along River Road. This too was the first on the count although it was
recorded during count week in 1991. Last year's highlight, a Peregrine
Falcon was again located on the steeple of the former St. Mary's church
where it has been seen off and on all fall.
Other good finds were one Great Cormorant and 53 Bohemian Waxwings, both photographed by Dan Marquis. Dan also photographed a Pileated Woodpecker eating berries. The 14 Horned Larks and 120 Snow Buntings were also a nice find. New highs for the count were 18 Bald Eagles and 1514 European Starlings. Pileated Woodpeckers tied the previous high of 4. No Red-bellied Woodpeckers were found this year. There were 11 Common Redpolls but no Siskins or Grosbeaks.

COUNT COMPILER: STAN DEORSEY


*new to count

2005 COUNT RESULTS

1. American Black Duck .......... 18
2. Mallard .............................. 491
3. Common Goldeneye ..............59
4. Hooded Merganser ................ 9
5. Common Merganser ..............33
6. Red-brested Merganser ...........7
7. Wild Turkey ....................... 151
8. Common Loon ....................... 1
9. Horned Grebe ........................ 1
10.Double-crested Cormorant .... 1
11.Great Cormorant ................... 1
12.Bald Eagle .......4 adult, 12 imm.
13.Sharp-shinned Hawk ..............1
14.Coopers Hawk ...................... 1
15.Red-tailed Hawk ................... 7
16.Peregrine Falcon .....................1
17.Ring-billed Gull .................. 451
18.Herring Gull ....................... 328
19.Great Black-backed Gull ..... 12
20.Rock Pigeon ...................... 341
21.Mourning Dove.................. 294
22.Belted Kingfisher ................... 1
23.Downy Woodpecker ........... 23
24.Hairy Woodpecker ................ 7
25.Pileated Woodpecker ........... 4
26.Blue Jay ............................ 191
27.American Crow ................1717
28.Common Raven .................... 1
29.Horned Lark ....................... 14
30.Black-capped Chickadee ...473
31.Tufted Titmouse ...................36
32.Red-breasted Nuthatch ..........7
33.White-breasted Nuthatch......40
34.Brown Creeper.......................3
35.Carolina Wren*..................... 1
36.Hermit Thrush* ..................... 1
37.American Robin .....................1
38.Northern Mockingbird........... 2
39.European Starling ............ 1514
40.Bohemian Waxwing ............. 53
41.American Tree Sparrow ...... 17
42.White-throated Sparrow ........ 1
43.Dark-eyed Junco.................. 24
44.Snow Bunting......................120
45.Northern Cardinal ................ 19
46.Purple Finch........................... 3
47.House Finch .........................93
48.Common Redpoll .................11
49.American Goldfinch.............135
50.House Sparrow ................... 42

Total Identified Species...........50

Total Individuals..................6977

 


immature eagle (jim walker)


immature eagle (dan marquis)


Bohemian Waxwing
(dan marquis)


Bohemian Waxwing
(dan marquis)