Common Redpoll. Photo by Courtney Celley/USFWS
Southern Wisconsin is full of bird enthusiasts. So it’s no surprise that each year, this part of the state turns out a great set of Christmas Bird Counts. In 2023, 12 counts were done within the our chapter area (which encompasses 10 counties), coordinated independently and made possible by dedicated, excellent volunteers. Below are the results of the 2023 Christmas Bird Counts in our area, but by the numbers:
558 birders spent 1,182 hours tallying up 119,931 birds! WOW!
Thank you to everyone involved for sharing your time, energy, and enthusiasm for birds!
Poynette CBC volunteers pause for a lunch break on Dec. 30. Thanks to all of the wonderful birders who joined in the counts in southern Wisconsin! Photo by Mark Martin
Overall Summary
Baraboo CBC Results
Gray-crowned Rosy Finch found during the Baraboo CBC by Cicero Stewart (photo also by Cicero Stewart).
Coordinated by Scott Swengel, aswengel@jvlnet.com
DATE: December 27, 2023
BIRDS: 13,350 total birds | 61 species
EFFORT: 61 birders | 178 hours
Two western mountain birds headlined our rare finds (see 2023 Photo Highlights). Cicero Stewart got called in to try to find “The” Gray-crowned Rosy Finch atop Devil’s Lake’s East Bluff after it didn’t appear for the morning searchers. Cicero found the finch and got great pictures of this mega-rarity that has become a tourist attraction for people willing to walk a bunch, get to the top of the East Bluff, try really hard, and maybe not find one. Also amazing was the record-breaking 6 Townsend’s Solitaires found by Brian Doverspike and Aaron Holschbach at Devil’s Lake, which put’s Baraboo’s state-record high CBC count (already held by Baraboo) of this Devil’s Lake specialty bird out of reach of any other count.
Clyde CBC Results
Trumpeter Swan. Photo by Kelly Colgan Azar
Coordinated by Steven Greb, steven.greb@gmail.com
DATE: January 2, 2024
BIRDS: 5,057 total birds | 51 species
EFFORT: 13 birders | 75 hours
This year, we totaled 51 species, with some great sightings (sandhill cranes, trumpeter swans, scaup, merganser, shrikes, red-winged blackbird) and a few notable absent birds (golden eagles, cooper’s hawk and pine siskins). Luckily, we got the count in before the snow and cold arrived.
Columbus CBC Results
Northern Harrier. Photo by Mick Thompson
Coordinated by Louise Venn, lsvenne@gmail.com
DATE: December 19, 2023
BIRDS: 3,894 total birds | 37 species
EFFORT: 11 birders | 31 hours
Cooksville CBC Results
Yellow-rumped Warbler. Photo by Dave Wendelken
Coordinated by Quentin Yoerger, harrierqman@gmail.com
DATE: January 1, 2023
BIRDS: 7,835 total birds | 64 species
EFFORT: 14 birders | 43 hours
The unusually warm weather seemed to impact waterfowl numbers the most. Canada Goose was reported at 57% of the ten year average (2298/4028). Mallard was reported at only 36% of the ten year average (251/706). Only one Common Merganser was reported. The average is 32. Gadwall was missed this year. It has been found in 27 of 36 years. One new species for the Cooksville count was found this year: the Yellow-rumped Warbler.
Fair Meadows CBC Results
Golden-crowned Kinglet. Photo by Kelly Colgan Azar
Coordinated by Penny and Gary Shackelford, fairmeadows@madisonaudubon.org
DATE: December 16, 2023
BIRDS: 351 total birds | 27 species
EFFORT: 17 birders | 68 hours
Fair Meadows inaugural Christmas Bird Count started on a blustery day, but the 13 participants and four leaders were bundled and ready to go. We walked 19 miles over four hours and found 27 species and 351 birds. Four teams surveyed 90 acres of woods, 100 acres of wetlands, 70 acres of prairie, and 50 acres of a patchwork of savanna, wetlands, creek and pond. Good finds were a Northern Shrike, two Golden-crowned Kinglets, four Bald Eagles, a Great blue Heron, seven American Robins and a Northern Harrier. The Pileated Woodpecker didn’t show up until the next day! Not a single House Sparrow, European Starling or Rock Pigeon. We had a break for lunch and a wrap-up of findings. Two intrepid teams went out again after lunch. Great fun for all!
Madison-area CBC Results
Merlin. Photo by Mick Thompson
Coordinated by Brenna Marsicek, bmarsicek@madisonaudubon.org
DATE: December 16, 2023
BIRDS: 45,943 total birds | 94 species
EFFORT: 228 birders | 402 hours
This year, on December 16, an incredible 228 birders turned out in the field and at their feeders to document the birds they saw and heard. To put that into context, last year for the 2022 Madison-area Christmas Bird Count, our 222 volunteers put us at the 14th highest number of participants out of all of the 2,625 counts!
On Dec. 16, we had a cloudy, relatively balmy (44 degree high) day, and it threatened rain all morning. Fortunately, most birders were able to complete their counts before it rained around noon. Forty-four degrees is pretty warm for mid-December, though the highest temp of a Madison-area CBC was 48 degree is 2006. High and low temps during CBC were systematically recorded beginning in 1962, and as the chart below shows, the trendline reveals the temp during CBC is slowy rising. Higher winter temperatures means the lakes remain open, which influences which birds we might find in the area.
Mount Horeb CBC Results
Eastern Meadowlark. Photo by Arlene Koziol
Coordinated by Kerry Beheler, kerry.beheler@gmail.com
DATE: December 31, 2023
BIRDS: 8,354 total birds | 55 species
EFFORT: 46 birders | 100.5 hours
We worked hard to find birds on the 2023 Count, and while most counters said it was a slow day, we had some very good finds! A meadowlark (!), 2 long eared and 1 short-eared owls were found on various The Prairie Enthusiast lands! Thank you for the grassland habitat management Rich Henderson and others! 30 Eastern bluebirds total were counted in 2023, while we usually find 7 to 15 annually. 2013 was the last year when we had 30 bluebirds.
Pardeeville CBC Results
Red Crossbill. Photo by Mick Thompson
Coordinated by Brian Doverspike, briandoverspike@hotmail.com
DATE: December 18, 2023
BIRDS: 4,815 total birds | 54 species
EFFORT: 21 birders | 51 hours
Poynette CBC Results
White-crowned Sparrow. Photo by Sam Heeney
Coordinated by Mark Martin and Susan Foote-Martin, goosep@madisonaudubon.org
DATE: December 30, 2023
BIRDS: 10,183 total birds | 68 species
EFFORT: 44 birders | 38 hours
This was the 52nd Poynette CBC. We had a record of 43 field counters and the previous high was in 2021 with 37. High counts were 12 Pileated Woodpeckers, 2 Common Ravens, and 4 White-crowned SparrowS. Open country winter birds like Rough-legged Hawks, Lapland Longspurs, and Snow Buntings were in very low numbers due to the lack of snow cover.
The Shea family counted at the Portage Power Plant and the warm, water-cooling pond and marsh did not have a wide variety of ducks that may be due to the amount of other open water.
Still water froze earlier but on count day much of the still water was open due to above normal temperatures about 10 degrees above normal for December. The highs from December 23 - 27 ranged from 45 to 54! Snowfall was below average and on count day the southern count area had about 1 inch of snow on the ground while there was no snow cover in the northern count area.
Randolph CBC Results
American Goldfinch. Photo by Tom Schutlz
Coordinated by John Roti Roti, roti2russo@charter.net
DATE: December 18, 2023
BIRDS: 3,866 total birds | 26 species
EFFORT: 8 birders | 26 hours
We had a rather viciously windy morning for our count this year. This resulted in low raptor numbers, no owls, no harriers etc.
Conversely, open water boosted waterfowl numbers including our first ever Red-breasted Mergansers!
Richland Center CBC Results
Wilson’s Snipe. Photo by Mick Thompson
Coordinated by Eric Volden, ericvolden@charter.net
DATE: December 16, 2023
BIRDS: 7,246 total birds | 58 species
EFFORT: 27 birders | 80 hours
The day started out drizzling and foggy with light rain which continued all day, getting heavier with darker viewing conditions in the afternoon. Some of our better finds included a single Red Crossbill, Rusty Blackbird, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Wilson’s Snipe, and Great Blue Heron. We also found 3 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 2 Swamp Sparrows, 2 Golden-crowned Kinglets, 7 Belted Kingfishers, 9 Trumpeter Swans, 55 Bald Eagles, and 18 Eurasian Collared Doves. There were Sandhill Cranes seen count week but not on the day of the count. We met at a local bar and grille afterwards to collect data, eat, and share stories and experiences from the day.
Waterloo CBC Results
Brown Creeper. Photo by Karen Etter Hale
Coordinated by Karen Etter Hale, chimneyswift1@icloud.com
DATE: December 14, 2023
BIRDS: 11,680 total birds | 70 species
EFFORT: 50 birders | 64 party-hours
This was the 24th year of the count. Despite logging the lowest number of hours (57 plus seven hours of owling) and miles (367) in the past 13 years, we tallied 11,680 birds of 70 species (second highest; 78 species in 2012). (Interestingly, these two years, 2023 and 2012, were the warmest Decembers on record for Madison.) This was one of the warmest counts we’ve ever had, with the temperature up to 50 and sunshine and light winds all day.
