For 108 years, birders across the North American continent have braved winter weather for the Annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count.

Homer hasn't been at it quite that long only 35 years but on Dec. 15, 2007, 23 observers in the field and seven feeder watchers volunteered to identify species and count sightings. Volunteers counted every bird they saw within a specified 15-mile radius.

A total of 59 different species were sighted. Among the most commonly sighted were the Rock Sandpiper, with 1,026 sightings, and the Pine Siskin, with 916 sightings.

Other frequently-sighted birds included the Black Scoter, with 694 sightings, the Bohemian Waxwing, with 438 sightings, and the Common Raven, with 234 sightings.

Eighty mature and 27 immature Bald Eagles were sighted, for a total of 107 birds.

The only unusually high number of sightings went to the Northwestern Crow, the most abundant bird in Homer, according to David Erikson, a Senior Biologist and Project Manager with URS Corporation.

"Numbers of crows have experienced a ten-fold increase since the mid to late 1980s," Erikson said.

Many birds were only spotted once, including the Red-Faced Cormorant, Northern Goshawk, Merlin, Pigeon Guillemot, Hairy Woodpecker, Golden-Crowned Kinglet, Vairied Thrush and Fox Sparrow.

Erikson said the only unusual bird sighted was a lone Wilson's Warbler. The bird is olive-green and yellow with a black cap.

A total of 6,725 individual birds were sighted.

The Annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count began in 1900 as an alternative to an event called a "side hunt" in which participants shot as many birds as they could.