Christmas bird count results available

Local results from the 113th year of the National Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count are in. For a complete tally, visit online at www.christmasbirdcount.org for the national site or www.mtaudubon.org/birds/cbc.html for the state site.

• Nineteen observers traveled to Glacier National Park on Dec. 16, with some taking 10 field routes and two at a feeder site in West Glacier. This was the 39th Christmas Bird Count held in the Park. All told, they recorded 455 birds of 31 species.

The weather just below freezing, but this year’s count produced fewer species than last year. Ravens were the most commonly observed bird, but the most abundant species was the Canada goose, numbering 86 individuals. Fifty-seven goldeneyes were seen on Lake McDonald. Owls made a showing in wooded areas, including a great horned owl, a northern pygmy owl and a northern hawk owl.

• A record 47 people participated in the 14th annual Kalispell count on Dec., 30, an overcast day with snow flurries. They found 20,902 birds of 83 species, breaking a previous high of 77 species set last year.

Five species were new to the count — ring-necked duck, a common loon on Foy’s Lake, a northern saw-whet owl near McWenneger Slough, two Pacific wrens and a spotted towhee. Other birds included lesser scaup, bufflehead, cooper’s hawk, American kestrel, merlin, ruffed grouse, great horned owl, northern pygmy-owl, downy, hairy and pileated woodpeckers, mountain chickadee, Townsend’s solitaire, white-throated sparrow and pine grosbeak.

• Twenty-nine people participated in the 39th annual Bigfork count on Dec. 15. Two species new to the count included a cackling goose near the Flathead Waterfowl Production Area and a spotted sandpiper near Egan Slough. They also established new high count totals for 19 other species, including common loon, western grebe, trumpeter swan, red-breasted merganser, bald eagle, red-tailed hawk, rough-legged hawk, northern pygmy owl, Townsend’s solitaire and pine grosbeak.

• The American Bird Conservancy, Flathead Audubon and Flathead National Forest completed their fifth year of hawk migration monitoring in the Jewel Basin this past fall with two paid technicians, two volunteer counters and more than 50 others who visited the site.

Totals included 427 Cooper’s hawks, 225 red-tailed hawks, 502 golden eagles and 22 peregrine falcons. All told, they have counted more than 12,000 raptors, including more than 5,500 sharp-shinned hawks and more than 2,000 golden eagles.

The ratio of young birds to adults in the fall flight can help indicate health of the population, and even with just five years of data, some trends are apparent, including a steady increase in the number of young birds in the flight.

• This season saw additional survey efforts at Bad Rock Canyon, where 159 birds, including 51 golden eagles, were recorded over 10 hours of observation on three days in September, October and November.

• The 2013 Great Backyard Bird Count will take place on Feb. 15-18. The annual event is for beginners to experts. Participants enter their observations on the GBBC Web site. For information on local counts, contact Bob Lee at 406-270-0371 or rml3@centurytel.net or Kathy Ross at 406-837-3837 or mtkat@montanaport.net.