Except for the 200 or so mallards regularly found near the North Bridge, duck numbers were very low Saturday, with only two American black ducks, a few ring-necked ducks, common goldeneyes and both hooded and common mergansers, according to Stan DeOrsey, the bird count coordinator. The club also counted two common loons on Lake Auburn. DeOrsey attributed the low duck count to the lack of open water on the lakes.

Blue jays, however, were plentiful Saturday, with the members counting over 200. They also counted  47 northern cardinals and, in Turner, 28 snow buntings, as well as six adult Bald Eagles and seven first or second year bald eagles, 12 red-tailed hawks, two cooper’s hawks and two sharp-shinned hawks. The group also spotted the two Peregrine falcons that winter near the former St. Mary’s church in Lewiston.

The most unexpected bird spotted Saturday: a hermit thrush found in East Auburn. They normally fly south by now.

Among the other birds spotted Saturday: blue jays, loons, snow buntings, bald eagles and red-tailed hawks, 

Jim Walker of Auburn spots a bird along the Androscoggin River in Auburn on Saturday. Walker and other members of the Stanton Bird Club searched a 15-mile circle around Bates College during the Audubon Christmas Bird Count. Three groups of birders looked on the Lewiston side of the river and three groups concentrated on Auburn. Saturday’s cold temperatures provided a challenge as birds tend to be less active in the bitter cold, Joan DeOrsey said. “It’s a little harder to squeak them out, but the sun helps, as the birds like to come out and sun themselves,” she said.