Jeff and Allison Wells Wed, 12/30/2020 - 8:00am
A record-high number of black-capped chickadees was tallied during the Augusta Christmas Bird Count this year. Courtesy of Jeff Wells
Tufted titmouse numbers on this year’s Augusta Christmas Bird Count were more than double the previous high count for the species. Courtesy of Jeff Wells
It turns out that we were not the only ones to enjoy seeing pine grosbeaks! The total for this species for the Augusta CBC from all count teams was 130 the highest ever recorded over the 50-year history of the count.
Surprising to us though was some other new high total numbers for the count. This included 1,318 black-capped chickadees, 185 northern cardinals, 27 red-tailed hawks, 208 red-breasted nuthatches, 320 tufted titmice, and 282 white-breasted nuthatches. The numbers for tufted titmouse and red-breasted nuthatch were more than double any previous high count!