A Brief Look Back at the 2023-2024 Connecticut Christmas Bird Count All twenty-one Connecticut count circles submitted results for the National Audubon Society sponsored December 14, 2023-January 5, 2024 Christmas Bird Count. A total of 809 field observers and 52 feeder watchers devoted 2,173 total party hours and covered 7,705 total party miles in this annual census of early winter birds. In the process, we recorded 180 count day species and 5 additional count week species statewide. The count week species were Cackling Goose at Hartford and Greenwich-Stamford, Semipalmated Plover at New London, Thick-billed Murre at Napatree, Golden Eagle at Greenwich-Stamford, and Sedge Wren at Napatree. Count week species are seen during the three day period before or after any given CBC but missed statewide on count days. Semipalmated Plover and Thick-billed Murre each have been seen in Connecticut on four of the past thirty Christmas Bird Count years. Somewhat surprisingly, Golden Eagle has been found on 60% of our statewide counts during this period. The count week Sedge Wren at Napatree is an ultra-rarity on our Connecticut CBC, with the only other Sedge Wren having been reported on the 1954-55 CTCBC at Saybrook. In those earlier years, this species went by the common name of Short-billed Marsh Wren. The 329,972 total individuals counted this year represent a 22% increase over last year’s total of 270,361 birds. The 180 count day species is a new all-time record high total for the Connecticut Christmas Bird Count. Nineteen species were recorded at 30-year record high totals, including Clapper and Virginia rails, Great Egret, Black Vulture, Red-bellied Woodpecker and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Common Raven, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Winter, Marsh, and Carolina wrens, Chipping Sparrow, Eastern Towhee, and Eastern Meadowlark. Most of these species, including the three with historically southern affinities, have been undergoing early winter population increases for a number of years. The Birds of the World species description for Ruby-crowned Kinglet notes that “[t]his kinglet breeds farther north and winters farther south than the congeneric Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa), and the northern boundary of its winter range appears to be influenced by temperature.” We see considerable year-to-year fluctuation in Ruby-crowned Kinglet numbers, with highest counts occurring during milder southern New England winters. One hopes - I guess - that the huge jump in Chipping Sparrow numbers, with 23 individuals reported in 2022-23 and an eye-popping 129 individuals in 2023-24, is a consequence of global warming rather than misidentifications. It used to be a good practice to provide written documentation for Chipping Sparrows. The four species with new 30-year low counts were Mute Swan, Sanderling, Great Black-backed Gull, and American Tree Sparrow. Early winter coastal populations of Mute Swan appear to be shifting eastward. Sanderlings were scarce along our coastline from 1950 to 1970. They experienced a steady increase in numbers through the 1970s, then reached triple-digit numbers annually beginning in 1981. The peak high count was 969 Sanderlings in 2016-17. This year’s dismal total of 95 Sanderlings is just 23% of the annual average of the past 30 years. A Philadelphia Vireo was located and extremely well photographed next to the Branford Water Treatment Plant on December 16, 2023 for the New Haven CBC. This species now is added to the all-time CTCBC list. Birds of the World states that “[t]he Philadelphia Vireo has the most northerly breeding range of all the vireos and winters in southern Central America.” Philadelphia Vireo is considered rare in Connecticut during its peak fall migration. There are just one early November report and one late November eBird report of Philadelphia Vireo in Connecticut, each supported by excellent photographs. The Sedge Wren reported count week on the Napatree CBC is another addition to the 30-year list of CTCBC species. A very nice total of 17 rarities were documented on the 2023-24 CTCBC. These species, seen six or fewer times in the last three decades of our CBCs, were Tufted Duck, Eared Grebe, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Sandhill Crane, Semipalmated Plover CW, Spotted Sandpiper, Thick-billed Murre, Western Kingbird, Western Flycatcher, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Tennessee Warbler, Cape May Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Prairie Warbler, and Western Tanager. A 30-year look at the various taxonomic groups once again reveals some definite trends of increasing or decreasing early winter populations. A full analysis of the 2023-2024 Connecticut Christmas Bird Count will be published in the October issue of The Connecticut Warbler. The statewide table of results and supplemental materials already are posted on the Connecticut Ornithological Association CTBIRDS website. Click on Publications, and select CT Bird Count Data. Steve Broker Cheshire, CT