Bird counters encounter low snow

A red-necked grebe, a few green-winged teal - those were just some of the more unusual bird sightings during Glacier National Park's Christmas Bird Count held in late December 2011.

The grebe and teal aren't usually winter residents in Glacier, but mild weather likely kept those two species hanging around.

Eighteen observers on 10 routes and at one feeder site recorded 348 birds out of 36 species in the 38th annual count.

The Park's bird count is different from most National Audubon Society Christmas bird counts because it's almost entirely in the backcountry and requires walking, snowshoeing or skiing on most of the routes. Audubon has been counting birds at Christmas time for the past 112 years.

This year's Park count was marked by a lack of snow - many routes had just a skiff of snow, if any.

The count produced the same number of species as last year, 36, but with about 200 fewer individuals. The common raven was once again the most commonly observed species, observed on eight of the 10 routes, as well as at the feeder site, totaling 25 individuals. The most abundant species was the common goldeneye, with 66 individuals.

Other interesting sightings were five trumpeter swans, a northern pygmy owl, a northern saw-whet owl and a northern hawk owl, which was sighted during bird count week but wasn't seen on the official counting day of Dec. 18.