Good News from Birders:

959 Robins Are Spotted

The good news in the Vermont results of the 2008 Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), is that spring is on the way. From Feb. 15-18, Vermont observers reported seeing 959 robins at 54 different reporting stations.

In the national count, bird watchers outdid themselves in the event, which is sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society.

Participants submitted more than 85,700 checklists during the four-day event, Feb. 15-18, surpassing last year’s all-time record by several thousand. Participants also identified a record 635 species and sent in thousands of stunning bird images from around the continent.

The GBBC web site at birdcount.org breaks down the totals to statewide and even local levels. For instance, Vermonters reported 32,114 birds of 78 species, the most common of which were the common redpoll (4597) and the black-capped chicadee (4177).

Looking closer, one could discover that Randolph village’s single inspection station sighted 48 birds, while 15 stations in Randolph Center counted 569 birds of 15 species.

One station in Randolph Center apparently has cornered the market on the stylish cedar waxwing, counting 50 of them in the four days, while nobody else saw a single one.

Other counting stations were located in Bethel, Pittsfield, and Rochester. Anyone may sign up to be part of the BGGC by going to the website.

Nationally, birders who had heard about the massive seed production failure in trees across northern Canada were expecting a huge influx of northern finches coming south to look for food. As predicted, there were record numbers of reports for pine grosbeaks, redpolls and evening grosbeaks.

In this year’s GBBC, yellow-billed magpie numbers hit a new low. Magpies, crows, and jays are especially susceptible to the West Nile virus. Nationwide, American crow and blue jay numbers appear to have stabilized somewhat, but bear continued monitoring. 

Some species showed up in the GBBC reports for the very first time, including a masked duck, an Arctic loon, and an ivory gull.

For a detailed summary, visit the GBBC. You can explore maps, see beautiful photos, prize-drawing winners, and the number of birds found in every state and region.

The most-reported birds in the national count were northern cardinal, morning dove and dark-eyed junco.