Christmas Bird Count 2021

For purposes of the Christmas Bird Count, Peaks Island is a part of the Portland district. For the second year the ‘Portlanders’ hand over the count to Michael LaCombe and Sam Wainright. They must trust us.

The day starts at 7:00 AM cloudy and cold, but no snow, not yet. The island is quiet, no wind and few bird sounds. Are the birds settling into cozy places before the snow? One might think that birds would be stocking-up before the snow?

With impending snow we took no time for breaks, our plan for lunch at Lisa’s Café is abandoned. In all, 6.3 hours of searching yielded 42 species. Last year we found 43 species.

The most abundant land species (not counting the non-native starlings, house sparrows, and pigeons) are the American Goldfinches (75) and Black-capped Chickadees (78). Absent from last year’s count, the wary Common Raven and Pileated Woodpecker are seen or heard singly in different locations. Significant water bird species are the Common Eiders (71), Long-tailed Ducks (40), Red-breasted Mergansers (38), and Herring Gulls (32). Let's not overlook the Common Loons - 29 of them.

Many species recently seen on the island were missed. We do not find the Eastern Bluebird that was reported on eBird by John. He tells us that the bluebird is seen in a mixed flock of small birds that visit his yard, but not on this day. His dark brown chicken, however greets us with ‘grumbling’ clucks. Do chickens grumble? Bob’s Screech Owls are elusive, perhaps snuggled into a nest, not to be seen in the day or heard in the evening. Lisa’s Snowy Owl is absent. The Red-breasted Nuthatch and Brown Creeper are also missing from this year’s count even though we eagerly searched for them in wooded areas.

In all a great Christmas Bird Count on Peaks Island. Thank you Michael and Sam.