(This week’s column shares Jeff’s perspective; Allison was unable to participate.)

On the pre-dawn drive over to the airport at Owls Head on January 5th, the temperature hit a low of zero degrees Fahrenheit. I was on my way to catch a small plane to fly out to Matinicus Island for the annual National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count. Joining me on the flight from the mainland and on the count were long-time regular Rich and first-timer Bethany. We were joined by several island resident bird enthusiasts including one particularly proficient young person, all of us volunteer scientists for this particular day, identifying and counting all the birds we could find on the island as part of the 126-year-tradition known as the Christmas Bird Count (CBC).

The Matinicus Island CBC has been held for 20 almost-consecutive years (all but during the COVID pandemic) since that first one in 2005. That year we had 260 common eiders, the highest number of that species that we’ve ever counted on the Matinicus Island CBC. The number has gone down steadily every year, a trend that is part of a larger global decline in common eiders. This year we found only a few.

The introduced populations of ring-necked pheasants and wild turkeys on the island were there in 2005 but gone by 2014 and 2015.

We didn’t find a red-bellied woodpecker on the Matinicus Island CBC until 2012. We’ve had the species many (but not all) years since then. This year we counted three. Common raven numbers have stayed about the same every year, varying from one to four.

Detecting changes in bird populations is one of the important values of carrying out the thousands of Christmas Bird Counts that take place across North America and the world.

But an important reason why we do the Christmas Bird Counts because they’re fun.

The short flight out to the island is filled with spectacular views of a beautiful section of Maine coast and islands in winter. The calls of a red crossbill met us as we stepped out of the little four-seater plane. What a great bird to start the day! We heard more of them throughout the count as they flew around over the spruce trees.

Our island friends met us at the airstrip and off we went to walk as much of the island’s dirt roads and trails as we could fit in during Maine’s short daylight hours of winter. Rufous, a  three-legged dog, and his person walked enthusiastically with us for a time as we tallied chickadees and robins and lots of red-breasted nuthatches.

One of the island counters saw the snowy owl that had been hanging around different parts of the island for the last few weeks. Alas, it was gone by the time we hiked over to where it had been. Our consolation was some tiny golden-crowned kinglets giving their high-pitched calls from nearby.

Near the beach, just beyond the harbor, we lucked into a hermit thrush hanging out near some shrubs that still held their red berries, and an American pipit walking on the sandy beach. Both are fairly rare (but not unknown) in winter in Maine, especially near the coast.

Later we headed south in time to eat our lunches in Paul and Eva’s kitchen while we watched their very active feeders. A definite highlight was the flock of seven gorgeous evening grosbeaks with their huge bills and yellow, black, and white plumage.

Warm and with full bellies, we hiked at a brisk clip to get to the beach on the south end, where the view looks out over to the neighboring island of Criehaven. In the channel between the islands, there are always lots of waterbirds. As the afternoon progressed, we enjoyed telescope views of black and white-winged scoters, red-necked grebes, common loons, great cormorants, and a small flock of beautiful harlequin ducks.

Our legs were heavy by the time we trudged back to the airstrip for our flight back to the mainland before it got dark. We could see our pilot waiting by the plane and we picked up our pace. Just then, a peregrine falcon darted by, low over the dark, spruce forest. It was to be the last bird we counted on this year’s Matinicus Christmas Bird Count. In all, we tallied forty-eight species for the count—the second-highest number of species we’ve ever counted!

More importantly, we’d enjoyed time with friends old and new, sharing stories and bird sightings and learning about family and community and health and happiness. Matinicus Island, thanks for the birds. Matinicus Island friends, thanks for your kindness and hospitality, as always!

Jeffrey V. Wells, Ph.D., is a Fellow of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Vice President of Boreal Conservation for National Audubon. Dr. Wells is one of the nation's leading bird experts and conservation biologists. He is a coauthor of the seminal “Birds of Maine” book and author of the “Birder’s Conservation Handbook.” His grandfather, the late John Chase, was a columnist for the Boothbay Register for many years. Allison Childs Wells, formerly of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, is a senior director at the Natural Resources Council of Maine, a nonprofit membership organization working statewide to protect the nature of Maine. Both are widely published natural history writers and are the authors of the popular books, “Maine’s Favorite Birds” (Down East Books) and “Birds of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao: A Site and Field Guide,” (Cornell University Press).