by Pete Fisher

Christmas Bird CountThe 17th annual Kalispell CBC was held on January 3, 2016.  Forty-one intrepid field observers braved single digit temperatures to count 78 species of bird. Five feeder watchers contributed data as well.

A major highlight was a dark-phase Gyrfalcon found at West Valley Ponds (junction of West Springcreek Road and Clark Road).  The Gyr is only the third ever for this CBC!

Also, three new species were added to the Kalispell CBC list.  These included Snow Goose, Cackling Goose and Red-breasted Merganser.  This brings the all-time total number of species to 125!

Many all-time records were broken as well.  We counted the most ever Bald Eagles (100), Sharp-shinned Hawks (15), Ring-necked Pheasants (225), Wild Turkeys (369), Eurasian Collared Doves (598), Downy Woodpeckers (75), Blue Jays (57), Chestnut-backed Chickadees (6), Western Meadowlarks (7), Brewer’s Blackbirds (100), and Common Redpolls (867).

Thanks to all that participated!

Total species: 78
Total birds: 19,380

SPECIESTOTALS
Great Blue Heron6
Snow Goose5
Canada Goose1517
Cackling Goose12
Mallard2461
Gadwall8
Common Goldeneye56
Barrow’s Goldeneye2
Bufflehead45
Hooded Merganser3
Common Merganser17
Red-breasted Merganser2
Bald Eagle100
Sharp-shinned Hawk15
Cooper’s Hawk2
Northern Goshawk2
Red-tailed Hawk51
Rough-legged Hawk19
Merlin9
Gyrfalcon1
Gray Partridge71
Ring-necked Pheasant225
Ruffed Grouse1
Wild Turkey369
American Coot2
Killdeer2
Wilson’s Snipe1
Ring-billed Gull77
Herring Gull9
Thayer’s Gull1
Rock Pigeon644
Eurasian Collared Dove598
Mourning Dove455
Great Horned Owl4
Northern Pygmy Owl2
Belted Kingfisher6
Downy Woodpecker75
Hairy Woodpecker16
Northern Flicker275
Pileated Woodpecker13
Gray Jay3
Steller’s Jay8
Blue Jay57
Clark’s Nutcracker6
Black-billed Magpie368
American Crow183
Common Raven647
Black-capped Chickadee632
Mountain Chickadee170
Chestnut-backed Chickadee6
Red-breasted Nuthatch46
White-breasted Nuthatch7
Pygmy Nuthatch74
Brown Creeper6
American Dipper2
Golden-crowned Kinglet3
Townsend’s Solitaire10
American Robin17
Bohemian Waxwing4661
Cedar Waxwing2
Northern Shrike5
European Starling1026
American Tree Sparrow17
Song Sparrow16
Dark-eyed Junco169
Snow Bunting57
Red-winged Blackbird34
Western Meadowlark7
Brewer’s Blackbird100
Pine Grosbeak170
Cassin’s Finch2
House Finch1675
Red Crossbill9
Common Redpoll867
Pine Siskin12
American Goldfinch151
Evening Grosbeak30
House Sparrow867
Duck species24
Accipiter species2
Buteo species2
Woodpecker species1
Chickadee species34
Waxwing species16