Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
The Forty-first Annual Christmas Bird Count was held on Dec. 19. A record number of 60 species were found during the daylong count which covered a circle 15 miles in diameter centered at the flagpole circle in Ft. Peck. There were 14 participants, including four field teams of three and two window watchers. We drove a total of 220 miles and walked six and a half, and temperatures ranged from 19 to 27 degrees.
The previous record for species counted was 51 and we beat that by nine. Some of the more interesting species found were one Double-crested Cormorant (which is still around), a Lesser Black-backed Gull, one Merlin, a Varied Thrush and a flock of about 100 Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches. Surprisingly there were no species new to the count.
Four species of owls were found; Eastern Screech-Owl, Great Horned Owl, Snowy Owl and Long-eared Owl. There were 10 species of waterfowl found, six hawk species and five gull species.
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