CBC 2012

On the 2012 Christmas Bird Count we recorded 119 species, plus one additional species in the count period.  This is a lot more than the 100 species we used to struggle to get on our count.  We did face some negative conditions—continuing drought (a toll on small land birds), mild early winter (some of the exotic gull species apparently were not in yet), and loss of many fields over the years to housing developments (hard on longspurs and sparrows).

Some of the remarkable finds—American Woodcock, by Jimmy Woodard and Nadine Varner; Townsend’s Solitaire, by Patti and Brian Muzny; Red-throated Loon, by Nathan Kuhnert, Zach Poland and Pat Velte; Lesser Black-backed Gull in count period, by Jim Bates; and Short-eared Owl, by Terri Underhill and Brett Bartek.

Thanks to all for a job well done.  A special thanks to Diane Newell and Sally Coates for hosting the Tally Party at the Newell home.  And a special thanks to Pat Velte for data entry—she says that every party list she enters is a pleasurable field trip for her!

CBC data has many uses, very important among them identifying birds with decreasing populations.  On the ducks, for instance, CBC data can be used to help set hunter bag limits—protecting the rarer ones with smaller bag limits. To my surprise we had more individual birding parties, 22, and more people, 54, participate than ever before.  It was a really nice day in several ways, including weather!

Below is a list of the species seen.

— John  Shackford, Compiler

 

2012 Christmas Bird Count
Species
Greater White-fronted Goose 23
Snow Goose 42
Ross’s Goose 8
Cackling Goose 290
Canada Goose 3564
Wood Duck 31
Gadwall 346
American Wigeon 63
Mallard 1077
Northern Shoveler 278
Northern Pintail 32
Green-winged Teal 61
Canvasback 112
Redhead 48
Ring-necked Duck 78
Greater Scaup 9
Lesser Scaup 77
Bufflehead 101
Common Goldeneye 9
Hooded Merganser 168
Common Merganser 50
Red-breasted Merganser 147
Ruddy Duck 42
Duck (sp)
Red-throated Loon 1
Common Loon 7
Pied-billed Grebe 64
Horned Grebe 36
American White Pelican 196
Double-crested Cormorant 200
Black-crowned Night-Heron 20
Great Blue Heron 113
Great Egret 11
Northern Harrier 14
Sharp-shinned Hawk 2
Cooper’s Hawk 7
Accipiter (sp)
Red-shouldered Hawk 8
Red-tailed Hawk 59
Ferruginous Hawk 1
American Kestrel 28
American Coot 116
Killdeer 142
American Avocet 1
Greater Yellowlegs 16
Least Sandpiper 327
Wilson’s Snipe 9
American Woodcock 1
Bonaparte’s Gull 26
Ring-billed Gull 1092
Herring Gull 21
Lesser Black-backed Gull cw
Forster’s Tern 23
Rock Pigeon 1910
Eurasian Collared-Dove 217
White-winged Dove 23
Mourning Dove 74
Barn Owl 1
Eastern Screech-Owl 1
Great Horned Owl 5
Barred Owl 1
Short-eared Owl 1
Belted Kingfisher 19
Red-bellied Woodpecker 39
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 11
Downy Woodpecker 57
Hairy Woodpecker 3
Northern Flicker 47
Yellow-shafted Flicker
Red-shafted Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker 2
Eastern Phoebe 6
Blue Jay 135
American Crow 156
Horned Lark 6
Carolina Chickadee 158
Tufted Titmouse 39
Red-breasted Nuthatch 6
White-breasted Nuthatch 7
Brown Creeper 6
Carolina Wren 77
Bewick’s Wren 1
Winter Wren 6
Golden-crowned Kinglet 6
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 20
Eastern Bluebird 31
Townsend’s Solitaire 1
American Robin 3025
Hermit Thrush 4
Northern Mockingbird 85
Brown Thrasher 19
European Starling 2402
American Pipit 5
Cedar Waxwing 46
Orange-crowned Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 100
Spotted Towhee 18
Eastern Towhee 2
American Tree Sparrow 5
Chipping Sparrow 1
Field Sparrow 9
Savannah Sparrow 50
LeConte’s Sparrow 3
Fox Sparrow 52
Song Sparrow 127
Lincoln’s Sparrow 3
Swamp Sparrow 6
White-throated Sparrow 29
Harris’s Sparrow 117
White-crowned Sparrow 49
Dark-eyed Junco 346
Lapland Longspur 30
Smith’s Longspur 262
Northern Cardinal 231
Red-winged Blackbird 1255
Eastern Meadowlark 19
Western Meadowlark 16
Meadowlark (sp)
Common Grackle 194
Great-tailed Grackle 334
Brown-headed Cowbird 201
House Finch 63
Pine Siskin 11
American Goldfinch 217
House Sparrow 327