For the Ledger-Transcript
Published: 12/30/2020 4:00:07 PM
“Where have all the birds gone?” It’s one of the most common questions asked of the Harris Center, usually by someone whose bird feeders lie idle. And the only way to answer, using something other than guesswork, is to employ science. This is what the Christmas Bird Count does. Every year across the Americas, thousands of volunteer birders fan out across the land to conduct this annual bird census. Each count happens within a prescribed 15-mile circle on the same day each year.
The Peterborough/Hancock count takes place on the first Saturday after Dec. 14. In all, almost 2,500 counts will occur from Dec. 14 to Jan. 5, smoothing out the wrinkles inherent in citizen science through sheer force of numbers. Glad for the opportunity to deny COVID another casualty, we decided to go ahead with the count but in separate cars, and on Saturday, Dec. 19, my team focused on the town of Dublin as we do every year, with another 12 teams covering other towns in the circle. It was a banner year, with many species present in record numbers; a story of range expansion and southward irruption.
Red-bellied woodpecker (35), tufted titmouse (639) and northern cardinal (132) have firmly established themselves in northern New England over the last few decades, and all tied or set record high counts (count totals in brackets). To illustrate, on the 1974 count, only two tufted titmice were found. Red-bellied woodpecker was not recorded until 1988 and did not break double figures until 2013.
Several species moved into northern New England this winter in record numbers, reflected in our count circle by red crossbill (42), white-winged crossbill (172), and red-breasted nuthatch (535). Blue jays were also abundant, and I witnessed a feeding station with more than 20 jays in attendance. These four species are known to wander in response to fluctuating food supplies during irruption years, though I suspect the numbers of red crossbill and red-breasted nuthatch also reflect successful breeding seasons. Boreal chickadees, by contrast, rarely venture south of the White Mountains.
Two birds found on Thumb Mountain were a count first, and part of a remarkable pattern of occurrence throughout the Monadnock region this winter.With so many species and so many individual birds present (52 species totaling 6,485 individual birds were both near record), the hawks took notice, with 11 bald eagles, five coopers hawks, two red-shouldered hawks, and three Merlins, all record high counts. While the eagles do not stand to benefit from the bounty, the other three species will readily take small songbirds.The patterns detected on the Peterborough/Hancock count were reflected across New Hampshire and indeed northern New England. It’s difficult to assess the origin of these northern visitors, though several counts conducted in Newfoundland reported an absence of white-winged crossbills and reduced numbers of pine grosbeaks relative to past years. If the folks in St. Johns are wondering where all their birds have gone, I have an idea.
Eric Masterson lives in Hancock.
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