The 47th consecutive (and 64th overall) Moscow-Pullman Christmas Bird Count was 16 December 2017. We traded in last year’s frigid temperatures for fog and 6 inches of fresh snow that fell the night before the count. All still water was mostly frozen and only minimal amounts of moving water were open. We had 47 participants (4 shy of our all-time high; 35 as part of 17 field teams and 12 watching feeders) who spent almost 54 hours driving 412 miles, 47 hours walking 41.5 miles, and almost 20 hours watching feeders. We tallied 65 species, a bit off our 10-y average of 68.
New high-count records include 17 COOPER’S HAWKS (14; 2015), 576 EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES (452; 2015), 2 AMERICAN COOTS (1; 2003 & 2008), 15 TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRES (11; 2004), 38 AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS (17; 2012), and 145 LESSER GOLDFINCHES (137; 2014).
We tied our CACKLING GOOSE (1; 2010-2014) and DOWNY WOODPECKER (16; 2013) high-count records and tallied 8 Count Week species: SNOW GOOSE, NORTHERN PINTAIL, BARROW’S GOLDENEYE, BALD EAGLE, STELLER’S JAY, PACIFIC WREN, WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL, and HOARY REDPOLL (pending acceptance).
Many field teams reported reduced numbers of birds and it being a “slow” day and our numbers supported that conclusion. We counted 9673 birds, well-below last year’s all-time record of 15816 and well-below our 10-year average of 12250.
Some other tidbits: (1) We have now tallied EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES for 11 years (they were first reported 2007). After dropping precipitously last year, the number of EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES jumped upward this year, due in part to the 162 birds counted at the UI Dairy Barns, nearly 30% of all reported. Even so, our MOURNING DOVE numbers were slightly above the 15-year average of 221. (2) We tallied a combined total of 24 SHARP-SHINNED and COPPER’S HAWKS this year; more than usual. In the 11 years prior to Eurasian Collared-Doves, our overall average for these two species was 4. For the 11 years that we have had this introduced species, the overall average has climbed to 8. Could it be these accipiters like Eurasian Collared-Doves? (3) Our good numbers of COMMON REDPOLLS were the best in almost two decades.
Thanks to everyone who participated! See you next year on December 15th!

George Ball, RJ Baltierra, Tom Besser, Jo Bohna, Ben Bright, Kiauna Canada, Kelly Cassidy, Peggy Chevalier, Mike Costa, Lynda Darnell, Deb Dumroese, Kas Dumroese, Niklaas Dumroese, Marie Dymkoski, Patrick Ellsworth, Joan Folwell, Jeanne Fulfs, Christine Gray, Terry Gray, Alex Hammond, Barbara Hammond, Eamon Harrity, Walter Hesford, Wayne  Holderby, Andy Hudak, Dawn Jordan, Denise Glen Kauffman, John Kramer, Greg Lambeth, Carl Lundblad, Heather Marney, Lauren McLeary, Elinor Michel, Rebecca Mourot, Grant Norton, Ted Norton, Mary Rothlisberger, Michael Saxton, Mike Scott, Sharon Scott, Ben Stone, Charles Swift, Nancy Trimble, Oran Trimble, Diane Weber, Mike Werner, David Woodall.

[one-half-first]Snow Goose
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Barrow’s Goldeneye
California Quail
Ring-necked Pheasant
Gray Partridge
Wild Turkey
Great Blue Heron
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed (Harlan’s) Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Buteo, species?
American Coot
Killdeer
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
Great-horned Owl
Northern Pygmy Owl
Long-eared Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern (Red-shafted) Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
American Kestrel
Merlin
Northern Shrike
Steller’s Jay
Blue Jay
Black-billed Magpie
American Crow
Common Raven
Horned Lark
Black-capped Chickadee
Mountain Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Pygmy Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Pacific  Wren
Bewick’s Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Townsend’s Solitaire
American Robin
Varied Thrush
European Starling
Bohemian Waxwing
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow-rumped (Audubon’s) Warbler
American Tree Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco, form?
Dark-eyed (Slate) Junco
Dark-eyed (Cassiar) Junco
Dark-eyed (Oregon) Junco
White-crowned Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Brewer’s Blackbird
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch
House Finch
White-winged Crossbill
Common Redpoll
Hoary Redpoll
Pine Siskin
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow[/one-half-first]
[one-half]CW
1
140
1
411
CW
2
CW
611
61
25
50
4
4
8
17
CW
78
4
12
6
2
2
126
576
235
5
1
1
1
16
9
152
1
30
4
3
CW
6
506
50
80
725
154
14
56
6
5
1
CW
9
44
1
15
100
7
2176
4
213
1
38
333
16
3
778
64
107
2
2
6
505
CW
132
CW
158
145
211
444

CW=Count Week