Twenty-two birders gathered on Lopez for the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count on December 19. Three teams divided North, Middle, and South Lopez to cover a combined 50 miles by car and foot throughout Lopez.

Topping the list of the most numbers of birds of any one species were the waterfowl: Canada Geese, Mallards, Northern Pintails, and Buffleheads (small black and whited diving ducks). The most abundant songbirds were European Starlings and Red-winged Blackbirds. Special highlights included:

A rare sight of a pair of Peregrine Falcons perched for several minutes on adjoining fenceposts at the marsh near Richardson. The pair cooperated to give the observers more than ample time for spectacular views of their plumage and male/female size differences.

Red-bellied Sapsuckers circling the trunks of fruit trees and creating a girdling of small holes for sap and bugs.

A solitary Golden Eagle with a small radio transmitter and aerial attached to its back.

An overflight of an estimated 100 Snow Geese.

35 Black Oystercatchers huddled closely together on the southern shore.

A Northern Shrike surveying its surroundings from a rock cairn.

At the end of the day, “team captains” Linda Hudson, Kelley Palmer-McCarty, Julie Knight, and Bob Myhr gathered at the Lopez Library. They tallied a total of 80 species, about average for the annual count on Lopez, despite the relatively warm weather.