<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Steve, thanks for this accounting, very enjoyable to read and contemplate, especially from the warmth of home.-;)<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">And thanks to Bob Boekelheide as well for the same report from Sequim-Dungeness. That whole shoreline is really a wonderful destination for birds and birders.<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">We have more juncos in our yard than ever before, and it’s so nice to see large numbers of birds of so many species on our CBCs and in our yards in the midst of the overall declines of bird populations. It’s also rewarding to hear of so many people participating in what is one of the longest-running and most important efforts to keep collecting data on those populations.<br class=""><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Dennis Paulson</div><div class="">Seattle<br class=""><div><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On Dec 26, 2025, at 5:02 PM, Steve Hampton via Tweeters <<a href="mailto:tweeters@u.washington.edu" class="">tweeters@u.washington.edu</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><font size="4" class="">Port Townsend Christmas Bird Count 2025 Summary<br class="">sponsored by Rainshadow Bird Alliance<br class=""><br class="">By Steve Hampton<br class=""><br class="">The 49th Port Townsend Christmas Bird Count, held on December 20, 2025, was breezy but dry. Temps hovered around freezing in the starlit dawn sky, and rose into the mid-40s with a solid to hazy overcast. The winds didn’t relax until late, but were limited to exposed sites, mostly on the east side. The boat went forth, with some delay, into some difficult seas.<br class=""><br class="">The count set records in many categories. We ended up with 126 species, edging the all-time high, set two years ago, by one bird. Participation was also a record, with 115 participants, a number that includes 22 feeder watchers at 18 feeders. The previous high was 104 participants, set last year. The field teams put in 183 party hours, significantly higher than the old record of 153, set two years ago. The teams included four young birders, aged 9 to 13, each of whom walked many miles. Lifers were had.<br class=""><br class="">Together, we traveled 89 miles on foot and 221 miles by car. Area A – Port Townsend to Kala Point – had 11 teams in the field, mostly on foot, and accounted for about half the party hours. No turnstone was left unturned.<br class=""><br class="">The count featured some heroic efforts. Ali Kasperzak braved the winds at the Flagler Spit to examine each shorebird and gull, ultimately picking out and photographing our only Herring Gull. Tina Roumi came off the bench from Sequim to fill in for Barry McKenzie (on loan to Sevilla) at Fort Worden; she put in 9.5 hours and logged 75 species, in what appears to be the largest eBird checklist ever for Jefferson County. Finally, kudos to Jim Norris, who stepped up to provide a boat for the offshore survey. Bob Boekelheide reported 4-foot seas in Oak Bay, with spray over the whole deck. To give you an idea of the conditions, this veteran seabird ornithologist reported slight queasiness for the first time in years. He did notch the count’s only Black Scoter.<br class=""><br class="">Brian Ellis again had access to Indian Island. When he texted me “NSTR,” I thought he’d found a rare Asian vagrant - is there a Northern Short-tailed Redstart? Alas, it turned out that the Navy in an acronym-rich environment, and he was merely indicating no heart-stopping rarities.<br class=""><br class="">Statistically, the rarest species on the count was American Pipit, three of which were found on the beach at Kala Point. The only previous count record comes from 1977, on the very first Port Townsend CBC. Other highlights included two Northern Shrikes (one each in Center and Beaver Valleys), the continuing Rough-legged Hawk in Center Valley, the Rock Sandpiper at Flagler, and the seven Western Meadowlarks at Pt Wilson. The feeder watchers again provided the count’s only White-throated Sparrow, as well as 10 to 20% of many backyard species.</font><div class=""><font size="4" class=""><br class="">In addition to the 126 species, we just missed seven more: Wood Duck, Short-tailed Shearwater, Red-shouldered Hawk, American Barn Owl, American Dipper, Barn Swallow, and Evening Grosbeak. These will go down as “count week” birds, as they were seen within three days of the count in either direction. Several of these are very rare on the count, and the Barn Swallow is a first.<br class=""><br class="">Record high counts were set for a whopping 24 species. These were:<br class=""><br class="">Common Merganser (371 > 224)<br class="">Pied-billed Grebe (36 > 25)<br class="">Red-tailed Hawk (25 > 23)<br class="">Eurasian Collared-Dove (62 > 57)<br class="">Great Horned Owl (3 > 2)<br class="">Anna’s Hummingbird (193 > 171)<br class="">Belted Kingfisher (39 > 38)<br class="">Downy Woodpecker (39 > 24)<br class="">Hairy Woodpecker (39 > 22)<br class="">Northern Flicker (206 > 118)<br class="">Pileated Woodpecker (14 > 9)<br class="">American Kestrel (7 > 6)<br class="">Black-capped Chickadee (381 > 292)<br class="">Red-breasted Nuthatch (174 > 123)<br class="">Brown Creeper (41 > 24)<br class="">Pacific Wren (202 > 112)<br class="">Marsh Wren (18 > 16)<br class="">Bewick’s Wren (51 > 46)<br class="">American Robin (2147 > 1835)<br class="">Dark-eyed Junco (1483 > 1342)<br class="">Golden-crowned Sparrow (400 > 336)<br class="">Spotted Towhee (306 > 237)<br class="">Western Meadowlark (7 > 5)<br class="">House Finch (530 > 448)<br class=""><br class="">The primary metric for analyzing CBC data is birds per party hour. When adjusted for party hours, all of these records disappear except for Hairy Woodpecker! Interestingly, hummingbirds per party hour have been relatively constant since 2016.<br class=""><br class="">There were no record low counts, though 21 Pine Siskins was the 2nd lowest ever, and well below the average of 463. They are likely enjoying the winter elsewhere.<br class=""><br class="">We also capped the day with the Compilation Potluck at the Rosewind Common Room. Thanks to all the area leaders and participants! In 2026, we hope to add more opportunities for new participants! </font><br class=""><div class=""><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br class=""><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr" class=""><div class=""><div class=""><font size="4" color="#073763" class=""><span class=""></span>Steve Hampton<span class=""></span></font></div><div class="">Port Townsend, WA (<span style="font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" class="">qatáy</span>)</div></div><br class=""><div class=""><font color="#073763" class=""><i class=""><br class=""></i></font></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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