Cooper’s Hawk. Photo by Mick Thompson
Southern Wisconsin is full of bird enthusiasts. So it’s no surprise that each year, this part of the state turns out a great set of Christmas Bird Counts. In 2022, 10 counts were done within the Madison Audubon chapter area (which encompasses 10 counties), coordinated independently and made possible by dedicated, excellent volunteers. Below are the results of the 2022 Christmas Bird Counts in our area.
Thank you to everyone involved for sharing your time, energy, and enthusiasm for birds!
Overall Summary
Baraboo CBC Results
Kevin Kutschenreuter found and photographed the first Northern Pintail to be recorded on the Baraboo CBC. Photo by Kevin Kutschenreuter
Coordinated by Scott Swengel, aswengel@jvlnet.com
DATE: December 28, 2022
BIRDS: 11,867 total birds | 64 species
EFFORT: 59 birders | 122 hours
Thanks for making 2022 a very good Baraboo Christmas Bird Count! It was our highest field effort with 122 field party-hours. This increase was the result of a huge jump in hours spent on foot compared to other years. Yard-watchers covered a record-high 20 sites. We had 59 total counters (tied for this count’s 4th highest). Read the full description here.
Clyde CBC Results
Red-bellied Woodpecker. Photo by Kelly Colgan Azar
Coordinated by Steve Greb, steven.greb@gmail.com
DATE: January 4, 2023
BIRDS: 4,801 total birds | 48 species
EFFORT: 11 birders | 69 hours
Columbus CBC Results
Horned Lark. Photo by Mike Streicher FCC
Coordinated by Mike Wanger, misterwanger@gmail.com
DATE: December 15, 2022
BIRDS: 5,226 total birds | 33 species
EFFORT: 10 birders | 31 hours
Cooksville CBC Results
Gadwall. Photo by Mick Thompson
Coordinated by Quentin Yoerger, harrierqman@gmail.com
DATE: January 1, 2023
BIRDS: 9,356 total birds | 57 species
EFFORT: 13 birders | 35 hours
In 2023 we found 56 species. The 35 year average species average is 46.6. The average number of species found over the last ten years is 56. We tallied 9,343 individual birds in 2023. The 35 year average is 6,211. The ten year average individual total is 10,633.8. So compared to the last ten years 2023 was a pretty typical Cooksville count. No new species for the count were found in 2023.
Canada Goose was once again the most common species with 4118 found. This represents 44% of the total birds recorded. 4118 is slightly above the ten year average of 3914.
Field birds were very hard to come by because of the lack of snow cover. Only 2 Horned Larks were reported compared to a ten year average of 223. No Snow Buntings were found. They have been found in 19 prior years. No Lapland Longspurs were found. They have been found in 15 prior years.
Other notable misses were:
Purple Finch - 18 years
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 18 years
Pine Siskin - 17 years
Brown-headed Cowbird - 17 years
The most unusual finds this year included:
One Carolina Wren was found. There is one previous count week record.
One Green-winged Teal was found. Only the second ever found.
Three Eurasian Tree Sparrows were found. Last year was the first time this species had been found for this count. These birds were coming to a feeder. I can provide the location, but I ask that you don't eBird the location of a private feeder.
The 53 Wild Turkey is only about 50% of their ten year average. The 46 Gadwall is 4 times the 11.2 ten year average. The 136 Common Goldeneye is about 2 times the 66.7 ten year average.
Madison-area CBC Results
Coordinated by Brenna Marsicek, bmarsicek@madisonaudubon.org
DATE: December 17, 2022
BIRDS: 43,783 total birds | 98 species
EFFORT: 222 birders | 398 hours
Northern Harrier. Photo by Phil Brown
While most of the folks out birding reported having a slow day, collectively we had a pretty good count! High counts included Greater White-fronted Goose (12), Trumpeter Swan (28), Green-winged Teal (17), Bufflehead (1,157), Northern Harrier (17), Sandhill Crane (855), Barred Owl (11), and Dark-eyed Junco (2,287).
It was also fun to learn that while this was the 73rd consecutive year that Madison has conducted a CBC, it was actually the 94th year of total counts held here! The first record of a Madison-area CBC was in 1907. Guess how many species the birder found. FIVE. It’s amazing to see how much this effort has grown. Thank you to all of the 222 volunteers who continued this great tradition this year!
Mount Horeb CBC Results
Coordinated by Kerry Beheler, kerry.beheler@gmail.com
DATE: December 31, 2022
BIRDS: 8,354 total birds | 55 species
EFFORT: 46 birders | 100.5 hours
Red-shouldered Hawk. Photo by Kevin and Jay Thusius
We worked hard to find birds on the 2022 Count, and while most counters said it was a slow day, we had some very good finds! A Golden Eagle was seen, and a very cooperative Red-shouldered Hawk was observed from nearly 40 feet away (photo attached, thank you Kevin and Jay Thusius!). A Golden Eagle was last recorded in 2012, and a red-shouldered hawk in 2017. We found typical winter birds including 1002 beloved Dark-eyed Juncos, 438 Black-capped Chickadees, 256 Northern Cardinals and 215 American Goldfinches.
We found 12 different raptor and owl species. Bald eagle numbers were consistent with the last few years (12), red-tailed hawks were abundant (83), rough-legged hawks were seen (7), and kestrels were well represented (16). Although most of us were daytime birding, we still found great horned (4), barred (2), and short-eared owls (1).
Woodpeckers as a group were well represented by Red-headed (37!), Red-bellied (299), Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (1), Downy (171), Hairy (53), Pileated (12) and Northern Flicker (2).
Birds present around open or running water, berry bushes, and fruiting trees included Canada Goose (182), Mallard (58), Belted Kingfisher (4), Eastern Bluebird (20), American Robin (72!), and Cedar Waxwing (21). One mixed flock of 80 robins and Cedar Waxwings was found.
Pardeeville CBC Results
American Goldfinch. Photo by Šarūnas Burdulis FCC
Coordinated by Brian Doverspike, briandoverspike@hotmail.com
DATE: December 16, 2022
BIRDS: 8,889 total birds | 58 species
EFFORT: 22 birders | 55 hours
Poynette CBC Results
Black-legged Kittiwake. Photo by Mick Thompson
Coordinated by Mark Martin and Susan Foote-Martin, goosep@madisonaudubon.org
DATE: December 31, 2022
BIRDS: 10,183 total birds | 68 species
EFFORT: 44 birders | 38 hours
The 51st Poynette Christmas Bird Count (CBC) was held on New Year’s Eve 2022. Through the first 50 counts in this area, the total CBC species list tallied 133. After 50 counts, it is pretty unlikely to add new species to the list.
For the most recent count, three dozen people in the field walked 19 miles and drove 488 miles and ten people watched their feeders for a total of 10,183 individual birds.
Learn more in the January 27, 2023 Friday Feathered Feature post.
Randolph CBC Results
This year’s highlights included the first Sandhill Crane spotted on a Randolph CBC!
Coordinated by John Roti Roti, roti2russo@charter.net
DATE: December 16, 2022
BIRDS: 5,578 total birds | 34 species
EFFORT: 9 birders | 25 hours
Richland Center CBC Results
Dark-eyed Junco. Photo by Eric Begin
Coordinated by Eric Volden, ericvolden@charter.net
DATE: December 17, 2022
BIRDS: 11,488 total birds | 63 species
EFFORT: 23 birders | 60 hours
It was our best count ever with 63 species counted. We had a count week Great Blue Heron seen the day before at 4pm but not located count day. 11,488 individuals was a nice change too from the rapidly decreasing numbers over the past half dozen years. It was warm leading up to the count and then the snow the day before brought the birds out near the roads and made it easier to locate them.
Waterloo CBC Results
Lesser Scaup. Photo by Mick Thompson
Coordinated by Karen Etter Hale, chimneyswift1@icloud.com
DATE: December 14, 2022
BIRDS: 9,411 total birds | 53 species
EFFORT: 52 birders | 63 field party-hours
Thanks, as always, to our great team of 26 field observers and 26 feeder counters for tallying 9,411 birds of 53 species with 63 hours of effort. The Waterloo Christmas Bird Count, held Wednesday, Dec. 14, was warm (35-40 degrees), but VERY windy, with blowing rain much of the day, which made birding challenging. December was warm up until count day, so all the lakes were still open, and there was no snow cover. This was the 23rdyear of the count. Overall, the count was “average”, except…
With the lakes wide open for the third year in a row, we found a good variety of waterfowl and set three new records. The 125 Lesser Scaup seen far outstripped the previous high, set just last year at 28. 42 Hooded Mergansers beat out the 41 tallied in 2001, and 20 Ruddy ducks was many more than the 11 found in 2011.
