Results:

 Canada Goose  214 (often missed on this count),
 Black Duck  14,
 Mallard 530,
 Common Goldeneye  count week,
 Hooded Merganser  6,
 Common Merganser count week,
 Ring-necked Pheasant  3 (stocked exotic not considered
        "countable" in Worcester County but still tallied for CBC's),
 Ruffed Grouse 2,
 Wild Turkey  51,
 Great Blue Heron  1  (4th record),
 Bald Eagle  1 imm. (2nd record),
 Sharp-shinned Hawk  1,
 Cooper's Hawk  4,
 Red-tailed Hawk  10,
 Peregrine Falcon  1  (new species for the count). Ring-billed Gull  73,
 Herring Gull  67,
 Great Black-backed Gull  11,
 Rock Pigeon  242,
 Mourning Dove  180,
 Eastern Screech Owl  1,
 Barred Owl  1,
 Northern Saw-whet Owl  1,
 Belted Kingfisher  6 (new record high count),
 Red-bellied Woodpecker  8,
 Downy Woodpecker  63,
 Hairy Woodpecker  14,
 Northern Flicker  1,
 Pileated Woodpecker  2,
 Blue Jay  198  (low),
 American Crow  249,
 Common Raven  10,
 Black-capped Chickadee  778,
 Tufted Titmouse  220,
 Red-breasted Nuthatch 15,
 White-breasted Nuthatch  182,
 Brown Creeper  10,
 Carolina Wren  4,
 Winter Wren  1 (6th record),
 Golden-crowned Kinglet  8 ,
 Eastern Bluebird 33 (new record high count),
 American Robin  270,
 Northern Mockingbird  4,
 European Starling  634,
 Cedar Waxwing  218,
 Tree Sparrow  40 (very low),
 Song Sparrow  8,
 Swamp Sparrow  1,
 White-throated Sparrow  19,
 Dark-eyed Junco  561,
 Northern Cardinal  119  (new record high count),
 Red-winged Blackbird  5  (ties record high count),
 Common Grackle  count week,
 Brown-headed Cowbird  10  (first record in ten years),
 House Finch  126,
 American Goldfinch  167,
 House Sparrow  698

Common Loon (1: very uncommon/rare on the count)
Pied-billed Grebe (1: rare on the count)
Great Blue Heron (8)
Turkey Vulture (cw)
Canada Goose (1011)
Wood Duck (1)
GADWALL (5: new count species: 1m+2f in one location; 2f in another)
Black Duck (51)
Mallard (958)
Ring-necked Duck (3)
Greater Scaup (cw)
Canvasback (1: uncommon on count)
Bufflehead (2: uncommon on count)
Hooded Merganser (205: new high count)
Common Merganser (375)
Bald Eagle (3ad)
Sharp-shinned Hawk (3)
Cooper?s Hawk (4)
Goshawk (1)
Red-tailed Hawk (29)
A Kestrel (1: rare on count)
Ring-necked Pheasant (2: all released birds)
Ruffed Grouse (1: very low)
Wild Turkey (121)
SORA (1: new count species)
American Coot (148 in a single flock: new high count: former count high was
6 birds!)
A Woodcock (1: rare on count)
Ring-billed Gull (617)
Herring Gull (25)
Great Black-backed Gull (1)
NB: Both Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls numbers on this CBC have been
rapidly dwindling over the years due to a variety of factors)
Rock Dove (582: Rock Dove numbers have also been noticeably decreasing over
the years)
Mourning Dove (486)
E Screech Owl (7)
Great Horned Owl (16)
Barred Owl (9)
Long-eared Owl (1: very uncommon on count)
N Saw-whet Owl (7)
Belted Kingfisher (17)
Red-bellied Woodpecker (51)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (4: uncommon on count)
Downy Woodpecker (280)
Hairy Woodpecker (65)
N Flicker (20)
Pileated Woodpecker (6)
Blue Jay (569)
A Crow (406)
C Raven (8)
Black-capped Chickadee (1652)
Tufted Titmouse (708)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (2: not a flight year)
White-breasted Nuthatch (383)
Brown Creeper (20)
Carolina Wren (37)
Winter Wren (6)
Golden-crowned Kinglet (31)
E Bluebird (137)
Hermit Thrush (3)
A Robin (349)
Gray Catbird (2)
N Mockingbird (10: decreasing rapidly in circle, high count was 50 earlier
in history of circle)
Cedar Waxwing (356)
Northern Shrike (1)
E Starling (1940)
N Cardinal (276)
A Tree Sparrow (64)
Field Sparrow (1)
Fox Sparrow (2)
Song Sparrow (87)
Swamp Sparrow (7)
White-throated Sparrow (229)
Dark-eyed Junco (1209)
Red-winged Blackbird (146)
C Grackle (11)
Brown-headed Cowbird (2)
Purple Finch (3)
House Finch (256)
Pine Siskin (1)
A Goldfinch (684)
House Sparrow (772)

Total: 77 species plus 2 count week

Narrative:

This year 34 birders in 20 parties scoured our circle on December 14, 2011.
The weather was thankfully "uneventful" with a temperature range from a low
of 24F to a high of 46F. Despite this, some ponds and lakes had some skim
ice and waterfowl numbers were lower than numbers recorded just a few days
past on Sunday. I had recorded well over 200 COMMON MERGANSERS on Sunday on
Lake Wickabog, but was down to a mere 9 birds on the day of the count. The
morning was overcast but became partly cloudy by afternoon; there were even
some glimmers of sunshine. There wasn't even the trace of snow. Some birders
were in the field by 3AM and some only quit when they walked into Bill and
Nancy's store.

Birders spent 21 hours over 121.8 miles OWLING. There is no getting around
it, owling is the toughest, least rewarding part of a count. But when you do
succeed, it's like you won the lottery. It was a fair night for owling,
still and a half moon shining, but at least in our sector, owls were tough
to come by OTHER than the reliable Great Horned. I still think Eastern
Screech Owl is under represented in the circle, but that's just a hunch
based on my Atlas work.

The stats for diurnal birding were impressive: 82.75 hours and 635.5 miles
by car and 62.25 hours and 54.75 miles ON FOOT. It was great that people
"hoofed" it as much as they did. This produced 77 species seen that day with
an additional 3 "count week" species. Though this may seem far short of the
high count of 88 species seen in 1999, it is an average species total. I
think many of us were expecting more species what with the mild temps and
lack of snow, but landbirds were just in short supply. It was, as Sheila
described it, as if birds had migrated out but the next wave of migrants
hadn't moved in yet. Totals for many species were unremarkable. (Total
number of birds seen were 15501, on the low side). This ended up being true
on the Worcester CBC too. The effect of the tornado, hurricane, numerous
rainstorms and the October snowstorm may have had an effect. There was some
speculation that woodpeckers were taking advantage of all the fallen trees
and limbs. But for many species, favored habitats may have been compromised.

There were low counts of accipiters, and very low counts of Ruffed Grouse
and this was the first time HORNED LARK was missed on the count. Numbers of
grouse have been declining throughout the history of the count, but this may
be a factor of where and how people are searching for them.

There were two new species recorded for the count: GADWALL, seen in two
locations (Orlando's Pond, Charlton (2f+1m) and Comins Pond, Warren (2f)) ,
and SORA, recorded in the Quabog marshes while owling. There were 3 new
count highs: HOODED MERGANSER (205); DOWNY WOODPECKER (280); and AMERICAN
COOT (148: previous high was 6. This species is most often missed on this
count!). The YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER count of 4 tied for high count.

Other "good " (UNCOMMON/RARE) birds tallied included COMMON LOON;
CANVASBACK; NORTHERN GOSHAWK; HERMIT THRUSH; NORTHERN SHRIKE; PURPLE FINCH.
Luckily Red-breasted Nuthatch was recorded on this "non-flight" year. It was
missed, for the first time ever, on long-running the Boston CBC.

All in all an interesting count.