Wild Creek/Little Gap Christmas Bird Count ~ December 21, 2025

I met Jon Mularczyk at the Graver Arboretum parking lot at 5:00 AM. Adam and Owen Smith were already there and had an Eastern Screech-Owl lit up when we joined them. They started a little earlier in the morning and had also found a Northern Saw-whet Owl! We headed out to other spots in our count area to see what other owls could be found. Over the next hour-and-a-half, we heard 7 Great Horned Owls, a second Northern Saw-whet Owl, and another Eastern Screech-Owl, but the owl highlight was a Barred Owl found in the State Game Lands that perched long enough for me to get a photo of it! It was the first Barred Owl I'd ever had in my section on this count.

Barred Owl

As dawn approached, we checked Schlegel Road and Graver's Hill for field birds, only coming up with 17 Horned Larks. That's when we began to notice endless skeins of Snow Geese flying west along the mountain. Numbers were estimated at over 17,000. In one of the skeins, Jon picked out a Cackling Goose.

A couple Swamp Sparrows were present along E. Walker Road. Along Church Road, we saw a group of 30 Red-winged Blackbirds and 9 Brown-headed Cowbirds, plus a Bald Eagle on one of the high-tension towers. Later along E. Best Road, we spotted Black Vulture, Cooper's Hawk, White-breasted and Red-breasted Nuthatch, Eastern Bluebird, and Hermit Thrush. Adam and Owen picked out 2 Field Sparrows and an American Tree Sparrow while Jon and I found a Winter Wren.

Winter Wren

Farther along E. Best Road, we saw a Red-headed Woodpecker, one of the more colorful birds of the day.

Red-headed Woodpecker

A Red-shouldered Hawk was seen perched along Mountain Road.

Red-shouldered Hawk

We ended the day 18,434 birds of 51 species. Here's the list.

1) Snow Goose
2) Canada Goose
3) Cackling Goose
4) Mallard
5) Turkey Vulture
6) Black Vulture
7) Bald Eagle
8) Sharp-shinned Hawk
9) Cooper's Hawk
10) Red-tailed Hawk
11) Red-shouldered Hawk
12) American Kestrel
13) Rock Pigeon
14) Mourning Dove
15) Great Horned Owl
16) Barred Owl
17) Eastern Screech-Owl
18) Northern Saw-whet Owl
19) Red-headed Woodpecker
20) Red-bellied Woodpecker
21) Northern Flicker
22) Downy Woodpecker
23) Hairy Woodpecker
24) Pileated Woodpecker
25) Blue Jay
26) American Crow
27) Fish Crow
28) Horned Lark
29) Tufted Titmouse
30) Black-capped Chickadee
31) White-breasted Nuthatch
32) Red-breasted Nuthatch
33) Winter Wren
34) Carolina Wren
35) Eastern Bluebird
36) Hermit Thrush
37) American Robin
38) Northern Mockingbird
39) European Starling
40) American Tree Sparrow
41) Field Sparrow
42) Song Sparrow
43) Swamp Sparrow
44) White-throated Sparrow
45) Dark-eyed Junco
46) Northern Cardinal
47) Red-winged Blackbird
48) Brown-headed Cowbird
49) House Finch
50) American Goldfinch
51) House Sparrow

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