This year marked the 50th anniversary of the Wild River Audubon Christmas Bird Count. The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is the longest-running formal citizen science project in the nation having first been held on Christmas Day 1900. Tom Anderson organized the first Chisago Lakes CBC in the winter of 1976-1977. He selected for the 15-mile diameter count circle an area with a mix of habitat, and which includes portions of the St. Croix and Sunrise rivers, Interstate and Wild River state parks, and Carlos Avery WMA.
This year the Wild River CBC was held on Saturday, December 20. It was a blustery day. An overnight dusting of fresh snow combined with 30+ mph gusts resulted in occasional whiteouts and created snow-devils that danced across the open fields. During the day temps dropped from a high of 25 degrees in the morning down to 10 degrees at sunset. These were challenging conditions for birds to move about in, much less for birders to spot them.
Teams of field counters met at Chisago Lake Lutheran Church at 7:30 a.m. before heading out to their respective sections of our count circle, which is divided into five zones. This year we had 25 field counters, and 14 households watched feeders — including several new volunteers! At the end of the day, we came together for our traditional potluck dinner and tally of the day’s sightings. Thank you to Sue Leaf for arranging with the church for us to meet there in the morning and for our tally potluck.
Despite the less-than-ideal conditions, the combined species count for the day was 40, which was on par with our count circle’s historic average of 39 species. However, the total number of individual birds seen was only 2,181 compared to an average of 3,484. We have not recorded a count population so low since 1996, and there are only five years in the history of the Wild River CBC with less birds seen. In 2023, we counted more Canada Geese (2,264) than all the birds seen across our entire count circle this year!
The weather certainly played a role in the decrease in the number of birds seen. For example, pigeons, which are often seen roosting in the open atop silos and outbuildings, would have had a hard time staying put in the sustained winds, resulting in only 65 being spotted compared to an average of 200 during the past ten years. An early cold snap and a period of sub-zero temps also meant that the rivers were largely frozen. Limited open water resulted in very low counts for waterfowl with only a few Trumpeter Swans, Mallards and Common Mergansers reported. Remarkably there was a complete absence of Canada Geese.
Northern species were also largely absent from our count this year, which is in keeping with a lack of a push of these species into Minnesota this winter. While Purple Finches were reported within four of the five zones and at one feeder, only 18 individuals were tallied – a notable decrease from last year’s high count of 143. Likewise Snow Buntings, which were widespread across the count circle in 2024, were limited this year to a small flock of 10 in the northwest portion of the circle. There were only two Pine Siskins and one Common Redpoll spotted at feeders. No crossbills or grosbeaks were reported.
All was not entirely bleak. A few highlights that contributed to our total count of 40 species included a group of five Wilson’s Snipe that Mike Chrun found in a seep-fed wetland along the St. Croix River, and a single hardy Eastern Bluebird spotted by the Terrells roosting in a cedar. Also notable were the presence of Red-breasted Nuthatches in four of the five zones and at several feeders for a total of 20 individuals. Red-breasted Nuthatches are experiencing an irruption this winter and have been reported as far south as the Gulf Coast. There have only been three other counts where we recorded as many or more of these spunky little visitors.
During the potluck, we celebrated the completion of our fiftieth CBC with a short program of highlights from past counts and of course cake! We also took a moment to recognize Dorothy Chrun, who is the only person to have participated in all fifty Wild River CBCs. To acknowledge her incredible dedication and volunteerism, Dorothy was gifted a Charley Harper ornament of a cardinal in a snowy bird bath inscribed “50 WRA CBCs 1976-2025.” Thank you, Dorothy, for being a part of the Wild River CBC for fifty years! (Dorothy is center of group photo below.)
A huge thank you to all our counters afield and at home for contributing to this amazing citizen science project! Mark your calendars for our next CBC on December 19, 2026!
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