Date: 1/26/26 7:43 am From: Terry Marron <00000d129fea9673-dmarc-request...> Subject: [VTBIRD] Champlain Island CBC article
HI folks,
Every year one of our members writes an article from the compiled results of the days count. It seems like so long ago we were out there on December 14th counting birds on the road and at the feeders!
Peace, Ice, and Birds: Highlights of the Lake Champlain Islands Christmas Bird Count
The 39th annual Lake Champlain Islands Christmas Bird Count (CBC) occurred on December 14th, 2025, encompassing the Champlain Islands, St. Albans, Swanton, Georgia, and Point au Roche, New York. With 37 birders in the field, and 14 feeder watchers at home, the humans put up some impressive numbers, logging 19 hours of birding on foot, 48.5 hours of daytime birding by car, and almost 27 hours watching feeders. With temperatures ranging between 19-24 degrees, light winds, and only a little light snow in a few areas, appreciative birders counted every single bird they saw or heard. “Due to very cold temperatures during the previous week, bays and shallow areas of the lake were mostly frozen. As a result, waterfowl numbers were 60% below the average of the last 10- year average. While the numbers of Mallards, 680, and American Black Ducks, 108, were somewhat above the 10- year average, there were no large rafts of Common Golden Eyes or Common Mergansers,” according to Ken Copenhaver, the Champlain Island CBC Co-coordinator.
The huge rafts of diving ducks were missed, but the persistent birders did not allow ice to darken their day. A “mew” species was added to the circle’s count, one Gray Catbird, was sighted in St. Albans! These cool cats have a distinctive mew call that sounds like your favorite feline, and they sing long ballads with strung together mimicry of other bird species’ songs, to delight their mates, and confound your Merlin Bird Sound App! While rare in winter, Gray Catbirds are found commonly during the summer in Vermont. They are a medium sized gray bird with long legs and tails, a hint of cinnamon color undertail, and sport a jaunty black cap. Gray Catbirds love to frolic in backyard shrubby brush and native bushes, like elderberry or serviceberry.
Another gray bird that frequented the tally sheets this year was the Dark-eyed Junco. Common in winter, these small sprightly sparrows display slate gray backs, snowy white bellies, light pink bills, and bright white outer tail feathers that flash when they are startled. Colloquially called snowbirds, Dark-eyed Juncos rarely perch, preferring to feed on the ground around feeders, trees, and roadsides. Deserving some love, area teams counted a new high of 457, breaking the previous high of 365 in 2016. Other new high counts of the day were 17 Bald Eagles, 27 Red-bellied Woodpeckers, and 205 Northern Cardinals. Thirteen Northern Flickers were spotted, beating the previous high count of 9 in 2016.
A rare find, one Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, was counted in Grand Isle. This red crowned beauty with black and white back and yellow-washed belly, was found only in four previous counts. The Grand Isle team also identified one White-crowned Sparrow, usually seen in Vermont during migration. This striking sparrow was observed in only six previous CBC counts and last in 2018. In Point au Roche, a rare find dabbling duck, the Green-winged Teal, was spotted, appearing in only eight previous counts. The Alburgh team loved finding one Merlin, rarely seen in winter and only in eleven previous counts, and one Winter Wren, counted only four other times. Rare misses this year were the Ruffed Grouse and the Eastern Screech-Owl.
During the week of the count, one Snowy Owl and one Short-eared Owl caught attention in Grand Isle. These rare wonders have only appeared in eight previous counts. More common, but always a thrill, teams logged three Great Horned and seven Barred Owls. The Isle La Motte team was captivated by a Barred Owl that flew across the road during daylight as they were identifying songbirds in the brush. Lighting on a low tree branch, the stately beauty with brown and white stripes and deep dark mesmerizing eyes, remained posed as they took photos.
Soaring into the count, the raptors likely only disappointed the rodents, with teams counting three Northern Harriers, one Sharp-shinned, four Cooper’s, and 22 Red-tailed Hawks. 76 Snow Geese and 195 Canada Geese were spied in Point au Roche, while only Canada Geese, totaling 118 individuals, were viewed across the island sectors, in addition to 122 Wild Turkeys. Black-capped Chickadees buzzed into the count at a cute number of 492, closely followed by 463 handsome American Crows, 427 adorable Snow Buntings, 165 dashing Blue Jays, and 144 American Robins, wishing for spring. There was a new low count of 202 Rock Pigeons, while 288 Mourning Doves brought teams much needed peace.
Overall, teams counted 67 species on count day, plus three species during count week. By comparison, the highest number of count day species was 76 in 2005, and our average number of count day species is 65, in the present circle location. In total, teams counted 8310 individual birds. Excluding sometimes large numbers of Snow Geese, the total bird tally was about 43% below the long-term average and 25% below the recent 10-year average.
Contributing community bird information to the Audubon Christmas Bird Count, North America’s longest running citizen science project, informs global conservation decisions, with 125 years of collected data. If you’re interested in joining a friendly birding team or peacefully counting birds at your own feeder next year, please contact Terry Marron, Co-coordinator Lake Champlain Island CBC at <tgmarron...>
Written by Heather Kohser Data compiled by Ken Copenhaver
