Date: 12/30/25 6:34 am From: David Govatski <david.govatski...> Subject: [NHBirds] Evening Grosbeaks most common bird on Littleton CBC
The 53rd Annual Littleton Christmas Bird Count was held on the Winter Solstice, 21 December 2025. The most observed bird was the Evening Grosbeak with 247 noted. The black-capped Chickadee was second with 238, followed by American Goldfinch with 231. The weather was mild at the start with 36 degrees until a cold front moved in at 1000 AM with strong gusty winds and blowing snow. Lakes and ponds were frozen, and streams were mostly frozen. The lack of natural food such as mountain ash berries, crabapples, and spruce cones was an additional factor in lower than average numbers for this count. We had a small number of redpolls, pine grosbeaks, pine siskins, and purple finches observed during the day. One northern shrike was seen in Bethlehem. We had 33 participants in this years count, the highest number ever.
On another note, plans are being made to hold a Christmas Bird Count in Gorham, NH next year. The count circle center will be the Gorham Town Hall. The circle will include Shelburne, Randolph, Berlin, and south to the Glen House XC Ski Area. The count includes Mt Adams, the second highest mountain in the White Mountains, although I don’t expect any birds or birders above treeline. But Gray Knob Camp is high up on the mountain and could serve as a base to bird the trails in the forest above 3,000 feet for boreal species. We have the required ten people minimum for starting a new count and just need to ensure that the count date does not conflict with the other northern counts.
We have at least 90 evening grosbeaks at our feeders in Jefferson. I have not been able to get them to sit still in the maple trees to accurately count. I fill the four platform feeders three times a day.
