Three Christmas Bird counts in northwest North Carolina found better than average bird populations and diversity this year with less effort than usual. The 34th Mt Jefferson count(Dec. 16), 32nd Stone Mtn count (Dec 22), and 12th Wilkesboro count (AKA Upper Yadkin, Jan 5th), all had good weather, but the problem of too few observers, plagued the Stone Mtn and Upper Yadkin counts.
Overall, good finds were *Northern Shoveler* (MJ, 1st record, 1st Ashe county record), *Common Loon* (MJ, 1st count record, 1st Ashe County record), *Palm Warbler* (UY, 1st count record and SM, 2nd count record), and Snow Goose (UY, amazingly 4th count of 12).
Strong showings were made by Owls, White-breasted Nuthatches, Hermit Thrushes, and White-throated Sparrows across the board. Especially interesting were record-high numbers of Hermit Thrushes in each survey, increasing a growing trend in the last 4 years or so. Are any other compilers out there seeing this same trend?
Guy (McGrane, Boone NC)
compiler, Mt Jeff, Stone Mtn, and Upper Yadkin CBC's
