Horned Lark. Photo by Monica Hall
You may have read about the results of the Madison-area Christmas Bird Count in this recent blog post, but the Christmas Bird Count is much, much bigger! In south-central Wisconsin (inside Madison Audubon’s chapter boundaries) alone, 11 CBC counts were held in 2021, led by great coordinators, populated by dedicated birders, and documented thousands of birds that we wanted to bring them all together into one place.
Below you will find the results of the follow Christmas Bird Counts, all coordinated independently and within Madison Audubon’s chapter boundaries. Thanks to all of the amazing birders who made this happen — what a marvelous diversity and abundance of birds we have in Wisconsin!
Overall Summary
Baraboo CBC Results
This International Crane Foundation team counted 1500 Sandhill Cranes on the 2021 Christmas Bird Count going to roost near the Aldo Leopold Shack on the Leopold Memorial Reserve. Photo by Hillary Thompson, provided by Scott Swengel
Coordinated by Scott Swengel, aswengel@jvlnet.com
DATE: December 28, 2021
BIRDS: 15,759 total birds | 68 species
EFFORT: 37 field counters | 24 feeder watchers | 97 field party-hours
Dear Bird Counters: thanks for making 2021 one of the most successful Baraboo Christmas Bird Counts! Against all odds with snowfall reducing our visibility during the last 3/5 of daylight hours, field counters persisted and made more good finds. Bird finding by yard watchers was good all day long for many of us. In spite of the snow-shortened day for most field counters, it was our 5th highest field effort with 97 field party-hours. The new snow made it more dangerous to park on road edges, so field counters spent fewer hours and miles on foot. Yard watchers set a record high for this count with nearly 72 hours of effort. We had 61 total counters, our 3rd highest ever.
Clyde CBC Results
Wild Turkey. Photo by Arlene Koziol
Coordinated by Steve Greb, steven.greb@gmail.com
DATE: December 30, 2021
BIRDS: 7,766 total birds | 54 species
EFFORT: 14 birders | 2 feeder watchers | 57.5 field party-hours
Columbus CBC Results
Red-breasted Nuthatch. Photo by ethan.gosnell2 FCC
Coordinated by Mike Wanger, misterwanger@gmail.com
DATE: December 17, 2021
BIRDS: 4,339 total birds | 38 species
EFFORT: 15 birders | 33 field party-hours
Cooksville CBC Results
Coordinated by Quentin Yoerger, harrierqman@gmail.com
DATE: December 31, 2021
BIRDS: 13,394 total birds | 66 species
EFFORT: 14 field counters | 3 feeder watchers | 46 field party-hours
We ended up with a new record high number of species with 66. This beat the previous record of 61 species set last year. Average number of species found is 46.3 The 13,394 individuals reported is the second highest total compared to the average of 6,119. One new species for the count was Eurasian Tree Sparrow. This brings the total number of species found in 34 years to 108.
Pileated Woodpecker. Photo by Kelly Colgan Azar
Record high tallies were found for the following species:
House Sparrow 1131, previous high of 906 with an average of 426.
Black-capped Chickadee 263, previous high of 198, average 104.
Downy Woodpecker 73, previous high 69, average 43.
White-breasted Nuthatch 91, previous high 83, average 34.7.
Hairy Woodpecker 27, previous 25, average 11.5.
Red-bellied Woodpecker 61, previous 51, average 16.7.
Tufted Titmouse 18, previous 10, average 4.7.
Northern Harrier 9, previous 7, average 3.5.
Golden Crowned Kinglet 6, previous 5, average 2.3.
Common Redpoll 95, previous 55, average of 27 found only 8 years.
Wood Duck and Swamp Sparrow with 2 each tied their high count and both were found for only the 5th year.
Pileated Woodpecker was found only the 3rd time. 4 birds were found. Previous sightings were of only 1 bird.
Canvasback was found for the 3rd time.
Misses included:
Eastern Screech Owl was missed. Previously reported 30 out of 34 years.
1 Pheasant was found after missing them the previous 3 years.
White-throated Sparrow was missed. Found in 18 years.
Northern Shrike was another miss. Found in 16 years.
Madison-area CBC Results
Coordinated by Brenna Marsicek, bmarsicek@madisonaudubon.org
DATE: December 18, 2021
BIRDS: 51,604 total birds | 96 species
EFFORT: 156 field counters | 31 feeder watchers | 343 field party-hours
Carolina Wren. Photo by Jeff Galligan
Each year, we joke about how this year, surely the weather on Christmas Bird Count will be 25 degrees, no wind, nice covering of snow, and partly cloudy. For the middle of December, that’s not too much to ask is it? In Madison, WI, the Christmas Bird Count rarely does feature such idyllic winter weather, but on December 18, 2021 it was close to it! The results from this year include a lot of typical species we see in mid-December, as well as a couple of pleasant surprises and a couple of eye-brow raisers.
Mount Horeb CBC Results
Coordinated by Kerry Beheler, kerry.beheler@gmail.com
DATE: January 2, 2022
BIRDS: 11,547 total birds (a record!) | 55 species
EFFORT: 41 field counters | 20 feeder watchers | 100.75 field party-hours
Sandhill Crane flock. Photo by Arlene Koziol
Hello everyone and thank you for counting in the 2021 Mount Horeb Area Christmas Bird Count which was held on Sunday 2 January 2022. We worked hard to find birds on the 2021 Count. Our highest number bird was the Dark-eyed Junco at 3,205! The previous high junco count was 2,772 birds found in 2013. Our next highest number bird was the Sandhill Crane at 1,348 birds! Our previous record number of flyover Sandhill Cranes was 56 birds in 2017. Wave after wave of crane flyover flocks were reported by 12 different field parties and feeder counters throughout Count Day 2021. Each group who saw the various flocks were in awe of the impressive sight. The Sandhill Crane flocks were most likely leaving the Wisconsin River areas to our west, induced to move due to the change in weather and ambient temperatures.
Pardeeville CBC Results
Northern Harrier. Photo by Phil Brown
Coordinated by Brian Doverspike, briandoverspike@hotmail.com
DATE: December 15, 2021
BIRDS: 7,701 total birds | 63 species
EFFORT: 13 field counters | 48 field party-hours
Highlights included a record high of 2,800 Canada Geese; 347 Wild Turkeys; 11 Northern Harriers; 43 Bald Eagles; 1 Red-shouldered Hawk, probably Arlene, found by Graham Steinhauer and Calla Norris in the Wisconsin River floodplain forest where Arlene is spending the winter; and 1 Townsend's Solitaire found by Mark Martin at Observatory Hill State Natural Area.
Poynette CBC Results
Dark-eyed Junco. Photo by Kelly Colgan Azar
Coordinated by Mark Martin and Susan Foote-Martin, goosep@madisonaudubon.org
DATE: December 31, 2021
BIRDS: 16,197 total birds | 68 species
EFFORT: 37 field counters | 7 feeder watchers | 73 field party-hours
This was the 50th Poynette Christmas Bird Count in the past 51 years. The 37 field counters were a record high for the count. The count had high numbers of 3 (2 previous high) Peregrine Falcons, 882 (703) Rock Pigeons, 1,087 (833) Mourning Doves, 3,704 (3,216) Dark-eyed Juncos, 418 (319) Northern Cardinals (107 by one party), and 623 (485) House Finches.
A Common Raven was only found for the second year and was in a different area than found two years ago.
The ground was bare three days before the count. On Dec. 29, four inches of snow fell and that helped move birds like Horned Larks and Dark-eyed Juncos to roadsides.
Randolph CBC Results
American Kestrel. Photo by Jim Stewart
Coordinated by John Roti Roti, roti2russo@charter.net
DATE: December 15, 2021
BIRDS: 5,867 total birds | 36 species
EFFORT: 10 field counters | 14.25 field party-hours
Richland Center CBC Results
American Tree Sparrow. Photo by Kelly Colgan Azar
Coordinated by Eric Volden, ericvolden@charter.net
DATE: December 18, 2021
BIRDS: 6,677 total birds | 62 species
EFFORT: 23 field counters | 3 feeder counters | 83 field party-hours
Waterloo CBC Results
Turkey Vulture. Photo by Debbie Koenigs/USFWS Midwest Region
Coordinated by Karen Etter Hale, chimneyswift1@icloud.com
DATE: December 19, 2021
BIRDS: 11,815 total birds | 65 species
EFFORT: 26 field counters | 24 feeder counters | 89 field party-hours
The 22nd Waterloo Christmas Bird Count, held Sunday, Dec. 19, was relatively warm (25-30 degrees) and the big lakes were still open.
We were excited to find TWO new species this year: a single Greater White-fronted Goose and single Turkey Vulture, for a total of 116 species in 22 years of counting.
