This year’s count was conducted by 10 participants on December 20th. The day was pleasant weatherwise, having low winds, clear skies and temperatures around average for the time of year ranging from 22°F to 32°F. While only a few people participated, the circle was covered pretty well with people covering Croydon, Newport, Sunapee, New London, Newbury and Sutton. Despite the decent conditions, the birding came hard for most of the participants with Newbury coming out as the most productive area.
The smaller ponds and any slow parts of the surrounding rivers were frozen solid. Lake Sunapee was mostly open with only the northern end being frozen, and Pleasant Lake in New London had a large portion of open water as well. Despite the extent of open water, waterbirds were lacking this year. The snowpack this year was minimal after a recent warm rainstorm, so getting around was easy for all participants. Recent late winter frigidity had forced out most birds that would normally linger on milder winters. With all that said, the list this year was fairly routine without much as far as notable contributions. The highlights are as follows:
A Red-breasted Merganser was found on Lake Sunapee from Newbury by Peter Newbern. This was the third record for the Lake Sunapee Count and probably the bird-of-the-day for this year’s count.
Almost all woodpecker species were represented, even Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (count week) and Northern Flicker, but surprisingly Pileated Woodpecker was missed by all participants.
The high count for Carolina Wren was tied with 4 birds.
5 species of finch made the count with 13 Evening Grosbeaks and 7 Red Crossbills being the most notable.
A Swamp Sparrow found by Peter Newbern was a first-ever for the count.
The overall list and totals are posted below. I want to thank all the participants for their contributions and look forward to another good count next year:
Mallard 240
American Black Duck 5
Hooded Merganser 1
Red-breasted Merganser 1
Wild Turkey 31
Rock Pigeon 55
Mourning Dove 24
Cooper’s Hawk 1
Bald Eagle 2
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 5
Downy Woodpecker 14
Hairy Woodpecker 12
Northern Flicker 1
Blue Jay 71
American Crow 76
Common Raven 11
Black-capped Chickadee 262
Tufted Titmouse 54
Golden-crowned Kinglet 10
White-breasted Nuthatch 33
Red-breasted Nuthatch 36
Brown Creeper 7
Carolina Wren 4
European Starling 94
Eastern Bluebird 13
American Robin 2
Cedar Waxwing 11
House Sparrow 36
Evening Grosbeak 13
House Finch 14
Red Crossbill 7
Pine Siskin 59
American Goldfinch 124
Snow Bunting 1
American Tree Sparrow 6
Dark-eyed Junco 59
White-throated Sparrow 3
Song Sparrow 1
Swamp Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal 18
