A record number of volunteers (98) hit their feeders and Loveland trails, lakes, and neighborhoods to find birds for the Loveland Christmas Bird Count on January 1, 2025. One hundred nine (111) species were tallied on January 1, and another five additional species were found during Count Week (Snow Goose, Red-breasted Merganser, Eared Grebe, Say’s Phoebe and White-throated Sparrow). Waterfowl were well represented, perhaps because large water bodies were not frozen this year. We recorded new high counts for a number of duck species (Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, and Green-winged Teal), for Ring-billed Gulls (3,197), and for Red-winged Blackbirds (2,910). Similar to results of the Fort Collins CBC held in mid-December, mountain species were low, perhaps due to very dry and warm conditions this year and to the impact of wildfires to the west of the northern Front Range. Other birds of interest this year: 59 Bald Eagles (a new high), 116 Red-tailed Hawks, 38 Great Horned Owls (a new high), 77 American Kestrels, 30 Belted Kingfishers (a new high), and 620 American Robins. Total birds recorded were 29,565, higher than totals for the last few years and well above the 25-year average of almost 25,000. Participants walked/hiked almost 129 miles, and logged over 218 hours on January 1 to find these birds.
Denise Bretting, Loveland CBC Compiler
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