Hi, Eighteen of us ran Fargo/Moorhead CBC routes on Friday December 15th while three others watched feeders. We totaled 46 species for the day and had 4 additional species for count week. Our Minnesota teams edged out our North Dakota teams, 37 species to 36. Waterfowl put in an excellent showing, with 2 lesser Scaup, 4 Northern Pintail, 1 Wood Duck, 4 Common Goldeneye, and 1 Bufflehead seen, in addition to our usual large numbers of Mallards and Canada Geese. The bird of the day, however, was the Townsend?s Solitaire found in the 900 block of S. Elm Street in Moorhead by Dean Riemer. This is likely the same bird reported by Dean from this neighborhood about three weeks earlier. The bird was seen as recently as the 19th and is probably still there. It especially likes to forage in crab apple trees in the front and back yards of a blue house that?s up for sale on Elm and has also been seen along the parallel residential street one block closer to the Red River. Watch particularly where this street bends very slightly to the east.
Our complete results are shown below: 71st Fargo/Moorhead Christmas Bird Count?December 15, 2007 Canada Goose?1275?MN?1275?ND?0 Mallard?1138?MN?977?ND?161 Lesser Scaup?2?MN?2?ND?0 Northern Pintail?4?MN?4?ND?0 Wood Duck?1?MN?1?ND?0 Common Goldeneye?4?MN?4?ND?0 Bufflehead?1?MN?1?ND?0 Bald Eagle?5?MN?4?ND?1 Sharp-shinned Hawk?1?MN?0?ND?1 Red-tailed Hawk?1?MN?0?ND?1 Rough-legged Hawk?1?MN?0?ND?1 American Kestrel?3?MN?1?ND?2 Merlin?CW?MN?0?ND?CW Gray Partridge?6?MN?0?ND?6 Ring-necked Pheasant?1?MN?1?ND?0 Wild Turkey?51?MN?46?ND?5 Rock Pigeon?283--MN?95?ND--188 Mourning Dove?2?MN?0?ND?2 Great Horned Owl?6?MN?3?ND?3 Snowy Owl?CW?MN?0?ND?CW Red-bellied Woodpecker?10?MN?5?ND?5 Downy Woodpecker?47--MN?24?ND?23 Hairy Woodpecker?48--MN?20?ND?28 Pileated Woodpecker?7--MN?5?ND?2 Horned Lark?CW?MN?CW?ND?0 Blue Jay?24--MN?16?ND?8 American Crow?204--MN?154?ND?50 Black-capped Chickadee?297--MN?137?ND?160 Red-breasted Nuthatch?20--MN?9?ND?11 White-breasted Nuthatch?91--MN?36?ND?55 Brown Creeper?7?MN?0?ND?7 American Robin?17?MN?7?ND?10 Townsend?s Solitaire?1?MN?1?ND?0 Bohemian Waxwing?1?MN?0?ND?1 Cedar Waxwing?62?MN?15?ND?47 Northern Shrike?3?MN?2--ND?1 European Starling?6260--MN?64?ND?6196 Northern Cardinal?4?MN?3?ND?1 Harris?s Sparrow?1?MN?1?ND?0 Dark-eyed Junco?281 (incl. 7 Oregon)--MN?77 (incl. 5 Oregon)?ND?204 (incl. 2 Oregon) Lapland Longspur?12?MN?3?ND?9 Snow Bunting?1111--MN?170?ND?941 Red-winged Blackbird?2?MN?0?ND?2 Pine Grosbeak?CW?MN?CW?ND?0 Purple Finch?3?MN?3?ND?0 House Finch?83--MN?12?ND?71 Common Redpoll?31?MN?0?ND?31 Pine Siskin?121--MN?74?ND?47 American Goldfinch?272--MN?47?ND?225 House Sparrow--1233--MN?389?ND?844 Species?46 (plus 4 CW)?MN?37 (plus 2 CW)?ND?36 (plus 2 CW) Individuals?13037?MN?3688?ND?9349 Participants?18 (and 3 feeder watchers) Bob O?Connor Moorhead, Clay County, MN