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*It's Nice to be Important, But It's More Important to be Nice - Unknown*
On Mon, Jan 26, 2026, 10:43 AM Terry Marron <
<00000d129fea9673-dmarc-request...> wrote:
> 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
>
>
> Terry Marron
> Williston, VT
>
> Resist, Insist and Persist!
>
>
>
