The raptors are coming through 
Join Andrew Fisher and Anchorage Audubon for a free winter birding excursion to enjoy Seward’s
Lynn Barber holds the record for the tenth highest North American Big Year total ever. When she found 723 birds in 2008, it was the highest Big Year total ever for a woman. She set the Texas Big Year all-time record (522 species) in 2005, she found 350 species in one year in South Dakota, and this year she has already smashed all existing records for an Alaska Big Year by finding 299 species thus far (as of October 9, 2016, 307 species to round out the year). 
rgest wetland in Hi Society!
2016 Christmas Bird Count Results
We finally have the results for the 2016 Anchorage Christmas Bird Count which was held on Saturday, December 17, 2016.
We’re sorry for the delay in reporting. It took us awhile to undo the damage done to the Anchorage Audubon CBC database by Russian hackers.
Our Anchorage teams of Christmas Counters located 37 species of birds on count day with one additional “count week” species (a Short-eared Owl!) being reported bringing the total number of species seen during count week to 38 species . The total number of individual birds spotted was 20,739.
This graph shows that the 2016 CBC was perhaps a little bit below our previous fifteen year average which appears to be “about” 40-42 species (give or take), but what we lacked in quantity, we MORE than made up for in the “quality” department….with two 1st ever Anchorage CBC records including a Song Sparrow (1st ever Anchorage CBC record), the American Kestrel (again 1st ever Anchorage CBC record), and a Pacific Wren (2nd ever Anchorage CBC record) following the 1st ever Anchorage CBC record in 2015.
Of the 38 species observed during count week, 7 species were represented by only ONE individual being sighted. Bohemian Waxwings were once again the most numerous birds found with 7,857 seen (compared to the 54 year average of 3,851). Common Redpolls made an impressive showing this year with 3,227 seen (compared to the 56 year average of 1,425), which landed them in second place for numbers sighted as well as Black-capped Chickadees with 2,085 seen (compared to a 57 year average of 893), which landed them in third place.
Data from the Anchorage Count follows below, and is sorted according to the number of each species seen. The Tally Party and Chili Feed was a fabulous get-together, and we’d like to thank the First Congregational Church, Lynn Barber, and Louann Feldmann for making the evening possible.
Also worthy of our highest praise are Area Leaders Thede Tobish, Andrew Fisher, Daria Carle, Tom Evans, Dick Prentki, and Pat Pourchot; Chief Coordinator Louann Feldmann; and all of the many, many counters and feeder watchers who provided the data for this year’s count.
Anchorage continues to be a Rock Star of Christmas Bird Counts. For the 2014 CBC, of the 2,408 count circles reporting, Anchorage had the 24th highest participation in the USA!! This is not a per-capita number, it’s based on total participants. We rock, and here’s what we saw for the 2016 CBC:
| Bohemian Waxwing | 7,857 |
| Common Redpoll | 3,227 |
| Black-capped Chickadee | 2,305 |
| Mallard | 1,302 |
| European Starling | 1,084 |
| Rock Pigeon | 841 |
| Black-billed Magpie | 753 |
| Common Raven | 697 |
| White-winged Crossbill | 638 |
| Pine Grosbeak | 600 |
| Red-breasted Nuthatch | 457 |
| Boreal Chickadee | 331 |
| American Robin | 193 |
| Steller’s Jay | 96 |
| Downy Woodpecker | 60 |
| American Dipper | 46 |
| Golden-crowned Kinglet | 45 |
| Brown Creeper | 31 |
| Hairy Woodpecker | 30 |
| Bald Eagle | 29 |
| Dark-eyed Junco | 27 |
| Common Merganser | 22 |
| Pine Siskin | 12 |
| White-tailed Ptarmigan | 10 |
| Northern Shrike | 9 |
| Gray Jay | 8 |
| White-crowned Sparrow | 8 |
| Northern Goshawk | 6 |
| Great Horned Owl | 5 |
| Am. Three-toed Woodpecker | 3 |
| Common Goldeneye | 1 |
| Red-breasted Merganser | 1 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 1 |
| American Kestrel | 1 |
| Spruce Grouse | 1 |
| Pacific Wren | 1 |
| Song Sparrow | 1 |
| Short-eared Owl (count week) | 1 |
As seen during the Tally Party, graphs have been made of each species on a per year basis since the count began. These graphs are available for viewing via the following link:
Graphs of Species by Year (click on this link)
The graphs total about 1 megabyte (1 MB), so they aren’t small, but nor are they large, representing about 1/700 of a typical movie available for streaming on the various movie streaming services on the web. So you choose the fun – the number of species recorded during the last 50 or so years of the Anchorage CBC, or 10-1/2 seconds of the movie “Dumb and Dumber”.
We’ve actually spotted what looks to be a data error in the historical data based upon these graphs. If you can spot it, please let us know, as we’ll definitely put YOU on the short list for our anti-Russian hacking team we are assembling!
We’ve got a real treat next Wednesday, March 8th, when 
week, the 
In case you haven’t noticed, it’s Fall. That means it’s time to stock up the bird feeders, and our October Audubon Program features “Bird Feeders in Alaska.
Our Annual Hawk Watch Weekend in collaboration with the Mat-Su Birders will take place this year on April 15 & 16th. It’s the Greatest Event of the Birding Year in Alaska!
Develop and fine-tune your birding skills and witness the progression of songbird migration through the Campbell Tract this spring. Join the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) staff and Anchorage Audubon Society members for a series of early morning outdoor bird walks May 4, 11, 18, & 25.… 
Alaska’s largest birding festival features a huge array of field trips, seminars, and speakers. 2017 festival highlights include Keynote Speakers, J. Drew Lanham from Clemson University and author/photographer Paul Bannick (The Owl and the Woodpecker). Located in the bustling town of Homer, this will certainly be a birding highlight of the year. … 