The 118th Christmas Bird Count period is officially over, and the Madison CBC data has been submitted! Huzzah and thank goodness! It was an awesome year in many ways: over 100 participants, a record 97 species observed (previous record was 95 in 1997 and 1998), 60,151 individual birds counted, 9 species high-counts, and some cool and unusual birds for this time of year (like an ovenbird and Iceland gull!).

Photo by Carolyn Byers