by Craig Hohenberger
The 42nd annual Bigfork Christmas Bird Count was held Saturday, December 19th, under cloudy skies with snow late in the day, and temperatures of 27-35º. Thirty volunteer participants counted 12,911 individual birds of 83 species, plus another three species seen count week but not on count day.
While we found no species that were new to the count, however, two Pacific Loons were re-found at Wayfarer’s SP, three Gray-crowned Rosy Finches (only 2nd time on the count), and one Western Meadowlark on the north shore of Flathead Lake. We had record high numbers of another three species: Pacific Loon (2); Bufflehead (269), and Northern Pygmy-Owl (10). Other count week species included American Kestrel, Spotted Towhee, and Brown-headed Cowbird.
Thank you to all the great participants who helped make this a wonderful count! Contact: Craig Hohenberger, asoleado2003@yahoo.com
| SPECIES | TOTALS |
|---|---|
| Pacific Loon | 2 |
| Pied-billed Grebe | 4 |
| Horned Grebe | 62 |
| Red-necked Grebe | 2 |
| Great Blue Heron | 16 |
| Canada Goose | 1384 |
| Trumpeter Swan | 15 |
| Tundra Swan | 178 |
| American Wigeon | 10 |
| Mallard | 747 |
| Gadwall | 15 |
| N. Pintail | 1 |
| Canvasback | 11 |
| Redhead | 83 |
| Ring-necked Duck | 26 |
| Greater Scaup | 113 |
| Bufflehead | 269 |
| Common Goldeneye | 444 |
| Barrow's Goldeneye | 13 |
| Hooded Merganser | 38 |
| Common Merganser | 52 |
| Bald Eagle | 51 |
| Northern Harrier | 8 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 4 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 1 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 17 |
| Red-tailed (Harlan's) Hawk | 2 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 18 |
| Buteo, sp. | 3 |
| Am. Kestrel | CW |
| Merlin | 3 |
| Ring-necked Pheasant | 51 |
| Ruffed Grouse | 1 |
| Wild Turkey | 176 |
| American Coot | 6100 |
| Killdeer | 2 |
| Ring-billed Gull | 10 |
| Herring Gull | 1 |
| Rock Pigeon | 91 |
| Mourning Dove | 91 |
| Eurasian Collared-Dove | 88 |
| Great Horned Owl | 2 |
| Northern Pygmy-Owl | 10 |
| Belted Kingfisher | 15 |
| Downy Woodpecker | 37 |
| Hairy Woodpecker | 21 |
| Northern Flicker | 107 |
| Pileated Woodpecker | 12 |
| Woodpecker sp. | 6 |
| Northern Shrike | 3 |
| Steller's Jay | 18 |
| Blue Jay | 25 |
| Black-billed Magpie | 66 |
| American Crow | 34 |
| Common Raven | 135 |
| Horned Lark | 7 |
| Black-capped Chickadee | 485 |
| Mountain Chickadee | 72 |
| Chestnut-backed Chickadee | 61 |
| Chickadee sp. | 10 |
| Red-breasted Nuthatch | 52 |
| White-breasted Nuthatch | 7 |
| Pygmy Nuthatch | 12 |
| Brown Creeper | 12 |
| Marsh Wren | 1 |
| American Dipper | 7 |
| Golden-crowned Kinglet | 21 |
| Townsend's Solitaire | 15 |
| American Robin | 10 |
| European Starling | 89 |
| Bohemian Waxwing | 256 |
| Cedar Waxwing | 12 |
| Spotted Towhee | CW |
| American Tree Sparrow | 1 |
| Song Sparrow | 18 |
| White-throated Sparrow | 1 |
| Dark-eyed Junco | 91 |
| Red-winged Blackbird | 30 |
| Western Meadowlark | 1 |
| Brewer's Blackbird | 144 |
| Brown-headed Cowbird | CW |
| Gray-crowned Rosy Finch | 3 |
| Pine Grosbeak | 87 |
| House Finch | 325 |
| Red Crossbill | 5 |
| Common Redpoll | 44 |
| Pine Siskin | 18 |
| American Goldfinch | 49 |
| Evening Grosbeak | 16 |
| House Sparrow | 137 |
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