by Brian Williams

The Ninepipes Christmas Bird Count was held on Sunday, 18 December 2016.  Sixteen observers braved the single-digit weather and treacherous roads to count birds.  The deep cold made open water scarce and held our total species down a bit from 5 and 10 year averages, but we found some excellent birds.  Short-eared owls were present in good numbers and, while the windbreaks didn’t yield any of the usual Long-eared Owls, they did yield a Barred Owl, only the second record for the count.  Other highlights included a Rusty Blackbird, white-morph Gyrfalcon, a count week only Barn Owl, and a high count of 290 Red-tailed Hawks.

Species Observed:

  • Canada Goose
  • Trumpeter Swan
  • American Wigeon
  • Mallard
  • Teal sp.
  • Bufflehead
  • Common Goldeneye
  • Hooded Merganser
  • Common Merganser
  • Gray Partridge
  • Ring-necked Pheasant
  • Wild Turkey
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Bald Eagle
  • Northern Harrier
  • Sharp-shinned Hawk
  • Cooper’s Hawk
  • Red-tailed Hawk
  • Rough-legged Hawk
  • Golden Eagle
  • American Kestrel
  • Merlin
  • Gyrfalcon
  • Prairie Falcon
  • Virginia Rail
  • Killdeer
  • Wilson’s Snipe
  • Rock Pigeon
  • Eurasian Collared-dove
  • Mourning Dove
  • Barred Owl
  • Great-horned Owl
  • Short-eared Owl
  • Belted Kingfisher
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • Northern Flicker
  • Pileated Woodpecker
  • Northern Shrike
  • Blue Jay
  • Black-billed Magpie
  • American Crow
  • Common Raven
  • Horned Lark
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Red-breasted Nuthatch
  • Pygmy Nuthatch
  • American Dipper
  • Golden-crowned Kinglet
  • Townsend’s Solitaire
  • American Robin
  • European Starling
  • Bohemian Waxwing
  • Cedar Waxwing
  • Tree Sparrow
  • Song Sparrow
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Western Meadowlark
  • Rusty Blackbird
  • Brewer’s Blackbird
  • House Finch
  • White-winged Crossbill
  • Common Redpoll
  • American Goldfinch
  • House Sparrow