ATHOL – There are many popular holiday traditions in North Quabbin—Santa parades, Main Streets made cheerful with festive lighting, toy drives, holiday dinners offered by civic organizations, church Christmas bazaars and more.

One longstanding tradition, however, has little to do with the holiday season. Still, one might say the annual bird count does feature some beautiful music – in the form of bird songs.

The 56th annual Athol Circle Christmas Bird Count took place last Saturday, Dec. 16. The event attracted about 40 volunteers, most of whom were part of 13 teams scattered around a circle with a radius of 15 miles, the center of which is School Street Apartments on School Street. It was there that the bird count originated 56 years ago by science teacher Bob Coyle, founder of the Athol Bird and Nature Club (ABNC).

“Back in those days,” said ABNC President David Small, “it was five or six people in two cars doing the count.”

Small explained that the count goes far beyond satisfying the curiosity of local birdwatchers.

“It has a much larger purpose,” he said. “It’s that National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count and it’s done across the hemisphere, basically, between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5.”

Asked if there are any results that have stood out in recent years, Small said, “We were talking about the Carolina wren population. We wound up this year getting tied for the highest number (observed). Their populations fluctuate with the severity of winter; if we have a really bad winter, the population goes down. Well, we’ve had several mild winters in a row and their population seems to be on the rise again. It’s an interesting species.”

He also pointed to the red-bellied woodpecker.

“Thirty years ago, we only had ones and twos, and now we’re in double digits every year. They’re expanding from the Mid-Atlantic States, moving northward.”

In addition to the habitat boundaries for some species steadily moving north, said Small, more seem to be lingering in the area longer. The eastern towhee, he said, is usually “long gone by now,” but this year the count is up, and three pine warblers were spotted.

“They’re an insect-eating bird, for the most part, and this is the first time ever on our count to get that species. We also noticed they were in the Worcester count for the first time, and for the second time in the Groton count.”

The presence of the pine warblers, Small said, points to a greater availability to their food supply.

“At this point, they’re probably eating cocoons or eggs of different insects that they glean from the bark and buds of trees, if they’re able to find some. They wouldn’t be here if they weren’t eating well.”

According to Small, this year’s count broke the 2012 record of 70 species detected with a new high count of 72 species—plus three additional ‘count week’ birds. He added that the mild fall, lots of water still unfrozen and an abundant natural food supply combined to have a diverse array of birds still in the local area.

“Many folks have been complaining that there are no birds coming to the feeders and we concur with that observation,” Small said. “Field teams noted the abundance of natural food sources in thickets and meadows, plus the abundant White Pine seeds resulted in high numbers of many species including eastern bluebirds, juncos, red crossbills, and pine siskins. Notable birds included the first pine warblers on the count and the second occurrence of red-breasted merganser.”

Bird species seen this year and their numbers-Canada goose, 302, mallard, 201, American black duck, 3, northern pintail, 3, ring-necked duck, 27, bufflehead, 3, common goldeneye, 9, hooded merganser, 136, common merganser, 373, red-breasted merganser, 1, common loon, 2, ring-billed gull, 16, herring gull, 21, wild turkey, 19, ruffed grouse, 1, rock pigeon, 198, mourning dove, 114, northern harrier, 1, sharp-shinned hawk, 4, cooper’s hawk, 4, bald eagle, 15, red-shouldered hawk, 2, red-tailed hawk, 16, great horned owl, 4, barred owl, 4, northern saw-whet owl, 1, yellow-bellied sapsucker, 1, red-bellied woodpecker, 26, downy woodpecker, 69, hairy woodpecker, 28, pileated woodpecker, 7, northern flicker, 3, blue jay, 267, American crow, 119, common raven, 32, gray catbird, 1, northern mockingbird, 4, eastern bluebird, 198, American robin, 113, cedar waxwing, 217, black-capped chickadee, 599, tufted titmouse, 304, red-breasted nuthatch, 22, white-breasted nuthatch, 146, brown creeper, 22, winter wren, 4, Carolina wren, 52, ruby-crowned kinglet, 1, golden-crowned kinglet, 116, pine warbler, 3, horned lark, 100, snow bunting, 2, field sparrow, 4, American tree sparrow, 37, fox sparrow, 2, dark-eyed junco, 2,644, white-throated sparrow, 392, song sparrow, 64, swamp sparrow, 6, eastern towhee, 1, house sparrow, 467, house finch, 275, purple finch, 7, red crossbill, 53, white-winged crossbill, 8, pine siskin, 877, American goldfinch, 442,northern cardinal, 124, red-winged blackbird, 123, brown-headed cowbird, 11, common grackle, 71, European starling, 898.

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.