LEWISTON — The Stanton Bird Club of Lewiston and Auburn will not meet in January, as the USM Lewiston-Auburn College, where the session is usually held, will be closed for the holidays. The club will have a birding field trip on Saturday, Jan. 13, to Marginal Way and Ogunquit. The field trip is free and open to everyone.

The field trip will be from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.. The focus will be winter ducks, especially harlequins and king eiders. Marginal Way offers opportunities to observe a variety of sea ducks. Participants also hope to see purple sandpipers or northern gannets.

The meeting place for the trip will be the Promenade Mall parking lot, near Staples, 855 Lisbon St. Members will carpool. Steve Reed, leader, suggests warm clothes and a portable lunch. He can be reached at 207-319-6630.

Many people keep lists of each species they see. The beginning of a new year is a good time to start an annual list. The Stanton field trips can expand a year’s list. Birders also keep life lists, which generate enthusiasm to find new birds.

On Dec. 16, the Stanton Bird Club held its 38th Christmas Bird Count. Twenty-two participated, dividing into six groups to spread out over Lewiston and Auburn. Jointly, they saw 53 species of birds.

The first ever yellow-bellied sapsucker seen on this group’s Christmas Bird Count was photographed by Dan Marquis’ team. Two other birds sighted which had not been seen for more than 15 years on this area’s Christmas Count were a yellow-rumped warbler and a northern pintail. Another record count seen this year was a huge raft of 320 common goldeneyes on Lake Auburn.

For more information, visit www.StantonBirdClub.org or see the club on Facebook.

A yellow-bellied sapsucker is the first one to be found on the Lewiston-Auburn Christmas Count since the Stanton Bird Club started participating in 1980. (Dan Marquis photo)

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