Saturday, Dec. 27, the last weekend of 2025 arrives at the end of a week, month, and year. Turn to the last few pages of the Ely Winter Times and thumb through the days and events within this area during this season as we move toward the New Year.
Maybe the almost daily arrival of choices for a 2026 calendar brings reflection on the times and places of 2025, while anticipation pushes in for what’s ahead. Is this the busiest time of year? In just one day, the pace increases and then ebbs when moments of “slow-down” are welcomed.
On any togiven day at this time of year, the pressure of complete many activities and tasks builds.
When getting to one event that settles into a day or a weekend, it can allow a breath of calm, focus, and fresh air either alone or with others of common interest.
Over our lives a growing number of experiences bring what we value and appreciate. While on my first job as a naturalist after graduating from college, I was introduced to Capital Area Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count in Lansing, MI. Christmas Day, 1900, was the time when the first CBCs were conducted as an alternative to the “side hunts” of birds that had been a Christmas Day tradition. This grew over time and was spread by the Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Counts as an ongoing citizen science study of birds.
Currently, each count is scheduled by local citizens at a designated circle 15 miles in diameter and on their chosen day from Dec.
14 to Jan. 5. This year, the Ely CBC occurs on Dec. 27. Like others, this count begins by registering its name and establishing the circle.
The date within that period can vary from year to year. Ely usually selects a Saturday or Sunday closest to Christmas.
Many CBCs are conducted across the Arrowhead Region of Minnesota: Grand Marais, Two Harbors, Duluth, Fredenberg, Sax-Zim, Virginia, Aurora, Isabella, Cook Area, Hibbing, Carlton-Cloquet. Some counts have been conducted in the past and are no longer conducted at this time. The Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union coordinates all of the CBCs for this state and maintains the records of all of them on its website www. moumn.org This event is just one that occurs at this time of year. Like many calendar events, they draw people together and they identify with the place and activities experienced. In a sense, a circle can be drawn of a place on a map for each experience. As 2025 transitions to 2026, the Arrowhead Region has all its CBC circles, and each of us identifies with many other times and places that make this such a rich season. Besides times and places, cities, neighborhoods, communities, townships, community groups, friends, families, etc., are all meshed in the ebb and flow of experiences that make each winter a new experience.
We keep score in a sense as we travel through our experiences. We carry outcomes and share them with others in our communities.
Each person can zoom in and out from points in time and places for a few more days of Dec. 2025 and then start working the Jan. 2026 Calendar.
You may be one of the people or see some of the people that are spread across the Ely Christmas Bird Count Circle, Saturday, Dec.
27, looking for and counting birds.
Why do they want to do that? They can enjoy the birds at home by just looking out. They can get out and explore what’s happening in their neighborhood. They can join family and friends. They will hear stories and receive tips from others about their bird experiences. They may select an area in the circle that they have never visited before.
They have never been on a CBC before. They want to meet and learn to identify some birds in this area. They come all the way from Iowa and hope to see a bird they have heard of but have never seen, the spruce grouse. They want to have someone tell them where Sax-Zim is or would like to get a 2026 Sax-Zim map and calendar.
Recent early reports: lots of pine grosbeaks; not a lot of red-breasted nuthatches; hundreds of rock pigeons, European starlings, blackcapped chickadees; recent reports of Bohemian waxwings, redpolls, American goldfinches.
All the reasons and reports from the Ely CBC circle will be revealed and reported in the first week of the first month of 2026. Happy New Year!
