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| Photo courtesy of Paul Cyr This was one of six recorded on Aroostook Birders’ recent Audubon Christmas Bird Count. To date, a record 16 “Snowies” have been seen in the central Aroostook area. |
Area bird watchers took to the fields and feeders recently as two Audubon Christmas Bird Counts were conducted over the holidays in Aroostook County. The counts, held in the Caribou/Limestone area as well as Presque Isle, were coordinated by Aroostook Birders, a local bird-watching club.
In spite of frigid temperatures, volunteers tallied a respectable combined total of over 7,000 individual birds for both counts.
Caribou counters spotted 3,937 of those individual birds and 24 different species. Notable were the most-ever blue jays, 68; American crows, 161; European starlings, 2,625; and American goldfinches, 242, tallied by those in the field and at feeders, as well as a lingering Canada goose in the Limestone Stream and a group of horned larks seen on the Strickland Road in Fort Fairfield.
A highlight for this year’s count was a first-ever snowy owl spotted on a light pole along the new Caribou connector.
Bill Sheehan, Aroostook Birders president and count organizer, noted that as of mid-January, at least 16 different snowy owls have been spotted in central Aroostook County. “That’s a record for sure,” he said.
Only in its third year, the count covers parts of Caribou, Connor, Caswell, Fort Fairfield, Limestone, New Sweden and Woodland. It was originally scheduled for New Year’s Day, but postponed to Saturday, Jan. 4, in hope of warmer temperatures.
In spite of what Sheehan called “a tough count and a brutally cold day,” he was grateful to those who helped and upbeat about the results. “We still came up with a respectable 24 species and almost 4,000 birds seen in the circle,” he said.
For more information about Audubon’s counts, visit www.birds.audubon.org. To see a complete listing of species recorded on both local counts, visit www.aroostook birders.com.
