Golden’s 22nd annual Christmas Bird count

Dark-eyed Junco by Larry Halverson

Ellen Zimmerman, coordinator of the Golden Christmas Bird count, sent this report.

On December, 27, 2011 a group of enthusiastic birders out and about and at their feeders recorded a record high number of species. 41 species were recorded, while in previous counts the average was approximately 30 species. However, the number of individual birds was well below the record because of the relatively low count of bohemian waxwings.

Highlights included, two owls a Northern Hawk Owl and a Great Horned Owl, A great blue Heron, a mourning dove and a killdeer.  Also a record number of bald eagles were recorded, likely due to the mild weather and open water.

Weather - Started out, -1 Celsius, heavy overcast, light snow flurries changing to overcast + 1 Celsius, wind, se 20 kil. Changing to calm

# of field participants-14 number of feeder watchers4, # of species- 41, # of individual birds  1136

Ruffed grouse  11

Spruce grouse   4

Great Blue Heron 1

Bald Eagle –10

Hawk species 1

Killdeer  1

Great Horned Owl 1

Northern Hawk Owl 1

Mourning Dove 1

Rock Doves –4

Northern Flicker  16

Downy Woodpecker   15

Hairy  woodpecker   9

Pileated Woodpecker  5

Clark’s Nutcracker 1

Stellar’s jay 4

Black Billed Magpie 9

American Crow 21

Common Raven  265

Golden Crowned Kinglet  4

Black-capped  chickadee 180

Mountain Chickadee  21

Boreal chickadees   3

Brown Creeper  2

Red-breasted Nuthatch  15

White breasted Nuthatch  2

Townsend solitaire 1

Robin  1

Starlings 10

Bohemian Waxwing 243

Junco  17

Song sparrow 5

Pine grosbeaks  40

Common Redpoll 124

American goldfinch 10

Cassins’s finch 16

House finch 2

White Winged Crossbill 1

Pine Siskin   7

Evening Grosbeak 12

House sparrows 40