Christmas Bird Count Results

By Linda Seamans, compiler
The Stanton Bird Club conducted its 38th Christmas Bird Count of the Lewiston and Auburn area on Saturday, December 16th. In total, twenty one people participated and recorded 53 species; the average since 2000 is 48. There was 5″ of snow on the ground and most open water was frozen. The grand total of 5,495 individual birds was slightly below average but the highest since 2012. We had a mostly sunny day, with temperatures starting at 9 degrees, rising to 30 by the end of the day. Count week added 3 additional species, and 16 individuals.
Overall, waterfowl numbers were consistent with past years. There was open water on the Androscoggin River, little open water at Lake Auburn and no open water at Sabattus or Taylor Pond. A huge raft of 320 Common Goldeneyes on Lake Auburn contributed to a new count high for that species. Raptor counts were also in line with prior years.
There was one new bird for the count this year- a Yellow Bellied Sapsucker was found and photographed by the Marquis team on the Taylor Hill road in Lewiston. A Northern Pintail spotted by the DeOrsey team was the first sighting since 1998. A yellow-rumped warbler, not counted since 2001, was spotted on a feeder by the Speer team.
Less-often-seen birds included a Merlin, Gray Catbird and Common Redpoll. Count for Red-bellied Woodpecker, Lesser Scaup, Common Merganser & Dark-eyed Junco reached new highs, while American Robin, White-throated Sparrow & Northern Cardinal counts were above average. On the low side, Wild Turkey, American Crow, Black-capped Chickadee and European Starling were below average this year.

Canada Goose…………..4
American Black Duck…16
Mallard………………..400
Northern Pintail…………1
Greater Scaup………….14*
Lesser Scaup……….…..96
Common Goldeneye….352
Barrows Goldeneye……..1
Hooded Merganser…….10
Common Merganser….106
Red-breasted Merganser…2
Ruddy Duck……………..1*
Wild Turkey…………….57
Common Loon…………..2
Horned Grebe……………1
Bald Eagle………………3
Sharp-shinned Hawk……1
Cooper’s Hawk…………1
Red-tailed Hawk………..5
Ring-billed Gull…………102
Herring Gull……………….56
Iceland Gull………………1*
Great Black-backed Gull…16
Rock Pigeon …….…….1,318
Mourning Dove…………250
Red-bellied Woodpecker….5
Downy Woodpecker………33
Hairy Woodpecker……….12
Pileated Woodpecker………4
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker….1
Merlin……………………..1
Peregrine Falcon…………..1
Blue Jay…………………120
American Crow…………711
Common Raven……………3
Black-capped Chickadee..218
Tufted Titmouse………….48
Red-breasted Nuthatch……2
White-breasted Nuthatch…23
Brown Creeper…………….2
Golden-crowned Kinglet….2
American Robin………….95
Gray Catbird………………1
Northern Mockingbird…….5
European Starling………499
Cedar Waxwing………….36
Yellow-rumped Warbler….1
American Tree Sparrow….46
Song Sparrow………………4
White-throated Sparrow….16
Dark-eyed Junco…………373
Northern Cardinal…………60
House Finch………………68
Common Redpoll………….1
American Goldfinch…….135
House Sparrow………….169
56 species and
5,511 individual birds.
*count week