This was our 34th Christmas Bird Count. Our first one was in 1978. The weather was chilly. There was no snow and no frozen water. There was very little wind but cloudy almost all day. The highlight this year was a Rough-legged Hawk and some Sandhill Cranes that flew over in the afternoon. We didn't see any new species for the count and set a high count for Gadwalls.The Rough-legged Hawk and Sandhill Cranes were both last seen in 2003.
December 16, 2011 from 5:45 A.M. to 5:15 P.M. Mostly cloudy with some light snow flurries. All ponds and lakes and streams open. Temperature ranged from 28° F to 36° F. Wind was light from the northwest. Nine observers in five parties. Total party hours 30.5 (8.5 driving, 22 on foot) plus 2 owling. Total party miles 177 (159 by car, 22 on foot).
Canada Goose 554 Mute Swan 1 Wood Duck 4 Gadwall 89 American Black Duck 2 Mallard 343 Northern Shoveler 18 Northern Pintail 18 Redhead 2 Ring-necked Duck 2 Lesser Scaup 2 Bufflehead 1 Hooded Merganser 7 Common Merganser 1 Red-breasted Merganser 3 Common Loon 5 Pied-billed Grebe 15 Horned Grebe 11 Great Blue Heron 5 Northern Harrier 1 Cooper's Hawk 1 Red-tailed Hawk 8 Rough-legged Hawk 1 American Kestrel 3 American Coot 4 Sandhill Crane 12 Killdeer 1 Bonaparte's Gull 70 Ring-billed Gull 1000 Herring Gull 2 Rock Pigeon 71 Mourning Dove 117 Eastern Screech-Owl 1 Great Horned Owl 1 Belted Kingfisher 9 Red-bellied Woodpecker 19 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1 Downy Woodpecker 44 Hairy Woodpecker 12 Northern Flicker 11 Blue Jay 15 American Crow 30000 Horned Lark 1 Carolina Chickadee 82 Tufted Titmouse 28 White-breasted Nuthatch 41 Brown Creeper 14 Carolina Wren 27 Winter Wren 1 Golden-crowned Kinglet 11 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2 Eastern Bluebird 10 Hermit Thrush 6 American Robin 512 European Starling 1240 Yellow-rumped Warbler 3 Eastern Towhee 3 American Tree Sparrow 85 Song Sparrow 39 Swamp Sparrow 4 White-throated Sparrow 160 Dark-eyed Junco 54 Northern Cardinal 113 Red-winged Blackbird 9 Common Grackle 1 House Finch 13 Pine Siskin 5 American Goldfinch 108 House Sparrow 215
Species 69
Total Individuals 35284
Observers
Doug Overacker Julie Karlson Larry Jeanblanc Tom Arnett Brian Menker Tom Beachy Roberta Ober John Eby Carol Culbertson
2010 Clark County Christmas Bird Count
This was our 33rd Christmas Bird Count. Our first one was in 1978. The weather was cold and cloudy this year with about 5” snow cover. We had just a few snow flurries but not too much wind. The highlight this year was a couple Lapland Longspurs and a few Snow Buntings on Hodge Road with some Horned Larks. There were also 2 Bald Eagles seen at Buck Creek State Park. The Lapland Longspur was the 121st species overall on the count. We had a Bald Eagle on the count for the sixth year in a row. We also had record high counts of Red-bellied Woodpecker, American Robin, Eastern Towhee and White-throated Sparrow.
December 17, 2010 from 6:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Mostly cloudy with some light snow flurries. All ponds and lakes frozen and streams open. Snow cover about 5 inches. Temperature ranged from 23° F to 25° F. Wind was light from the northwest. Eight observers in five parties. Total party hours 29.5 (8.5 driving, 19 on foot) plus 1.5 owling. Total party miles 172 (153 by car, 19 on foot).
Canada Goose 945 Mute Swan 3 Wood Duck 1 Gadwall 38 American Black Duck 1 Mallard 290 Hooded Merganser 4 Great Blue Heron 11 Northern Harrier 1 Bald Eagle 2 Sharp-shinned Hawk 4 Cooper’s Hawk 4 Red-tailed Hawk 5 American Kestrel 1 American Coot 1 Killdeer 1 Ring-billed Gull 1 Rock Pigeon 80 Mourning Dove 61 Eastern Screech-Owl 3 Belted Kingfisher 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker 33 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 2 Downy Woodpecker 51 Hairy Woodpecker 12 Northern Flicker 11 Pileated Woodpecker 2 Blue Jay 58 American Crow 30000 Horned Lark 80 Carolina Chickadee 91 Tufted Titmouse 12 White-breasted Nuthatch 41 Brown Creeper 14 Carolina Wren 8 Winter Wren 2 Golden-crowned Kinglet 20 Eastern Bluebird 16 Hermit Thrush 1 American Robin 1645 Gray Catbird 1 European Starling 2500 Cedar Waxwing 3 Lapland Longspur 2 Snow Bunting 6 Yellow-rumped Warbler 6 Eastern Towhee 11 American Tree Sparrow 132 Field Sparrow 2 Song Sparrow 28 Swamp Sparrow 2 White-throated Sparrow 274 White-crowned Sparrow 1 Dark-eyed Junco 41 Northern Cardinal 114 Rusty Blackbird 1 House Finch 2 Pine Siskin 12 American Goldfinch 74 House Sparrow 200
Total Individuals 36969 Total Species 60
2009 Christmas Bird Count
This was our 32nd Christmas Bird Count. Our first one was in 1978. We had nice weather for the Christmas Bird Count this year. It was cloudy all day but there wasn’t any precipitation and the wind was gentle. The highlight was a White-eyed Vireo found by David True and Larry Jeanblanc. Unfortunately because of the cloudy conditions Larry wasn’t carrying his camera and didn’t get a picture. This was the 120th species overall on the count. We had a Bald Eagle on the count for the fifth year in a row. We also had record high counts of Red-winged Blackbird and Northern Cardinal. After finding our first Gray Catbird in 1995 we have had one in 6 of the last 15 counts. On the down side we missed American Kestrel for the first time.
December 18, 2009 from 5:30 A.M. to 5:10 P.M. Cloudy all day with no precipitation. Small ponds frozen, large lakes partly open and streams open. Temperature ranged from 28° F to 38° F. Wind was light from the southeast. Nine observers, 9 in five parties plus zero at feeders. Total party hours 18.5 (3.5 driving, 15 on foot) plus 1.5 owling. Total party miles 97 (78 by car, 19 on foot).
Snow Goose (Blue) 1 Canada Goose 2000 Mute Swan 4 Gadwall 18 American Wigeon 2 American Black Duck 120 Mallard 1200 Northern Pintail 1 Lesser Scaup 1 Common Goldeneye 1 Hooded Merganser 70 Ruddy Duck 5 Pied-billed Grebe 7 Great Blue Heron 21 Bald Eagle 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 Red-tailed Hawk 10 American Coot 19 Killdeer 5 Bonaparte’s Gull 5 Ring-billed Gull 500 Herring Gull 9 Rock Pigeon 22 Mourning Dove 65 Eastern Screech-Owl 2 Great Horned Owl 4 Belted Kingfisher 9 Red-bellied Woodpecker 23 Downy Woodpecker 42 Hairy Woodpecker 4 Northern Flicker 16 Pileated Woodpecker 1 White-eyed Vireo 1 Blue Jay 25 American Crow 30000 Horned Lark 20 Carolina Chickadee 103 Tufted Titmouse 16 White-breasted Nuthatch 37 Brown Creeper 13 Carolina Wren 15 Golden-crowned Kinglet 11 Eastern Bluebird 8 Hermit Thrush 2 American Robin 532 Gray Catbird 1 Northern Mockingbird 2 European Starling 1525 Cedar Waxwing 2 Yellow-rumped Warbler 5 Eastern Towhee 7 American Tree Sparrow 89 Song Sparrow 38 White-throated Sparrow 112 White-crowned Sparrow 1 Dark-eyed Junco 13 Northern Cardinal 212 Red-winged Blackbird 125 Common Grackle 46 Brown-headed Cowbird 1 House Finch 20 American Goldfinch 33 House Sparrow 84
Total Individuals 37291 Total Species 65
This was our 31st CBC. The rainy weather led to fewer observers this year and also made it more difficult for those out in the field. Because of the rain we didn't do any owling. We had low counts of many passerines but overall we had our highest total of individuals due to the large number of Canada Geese and Ring-billed Gulls. We added two new species this year, Cackling Goose and Lesser Black-backed Gull. This brings our total number of species in the 31 years to 119. Other highlights were Gray Catbird and Pine Siskin.
December 19, 2007 from 6:45 A.M. to 5:30 P.M. Rain in the morning and some in the afternoon with sun for a couple hours around noon. Small ponds frozen but other water open. Temperature ranged from 33° F to 56° F. Wind was moderate early, increasing later from the southwest. Eleven observers, 9 in four parties plus two at feeders. Total party hours 25 (11.5 driving, 13.5 on foot). Total party miles 228.5 (212 by car, 16.5 on foot).
Cackling Goose 4 Canada Goose 1650 Mute Swan 4 Gadwall 40 American Black Duck 30 Mallard 1600 Northern Shoveler 55 Northern Pintail 30 Green-winged Teal 3 Lesser Scaup 1 Bufflehead 13 Common Goldeneye 1 Hooded Merganser 22 Ruddy Duck 1 Great Blue Heron 14 Bald Eagle 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk 5 Red-tailed Hawk 13 American Kestrel 5 American Coot 1 Killdeer 1 Ring-billed Gull 1500 Herring Gull 11 Lesser Black-backed Gull 1 Rock Pigeon 34 Mourning Dove 206 Belted Kingfisher 6 Red-bellied Woodpecker 18 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1 Downy Woodpecker 25 Hairy Woodpecker 7 Northern Flicker 13 Pileated Woodpecker 2 Blue Jay 31 American Crow 20000 Horned Lark 24 Carolina Chickadee 60 Tufted Titmouse 17 White-breasted Nuthatch 13 Brown Creeper 5 Carolina Wren 19 Golden-crowned Kinglet 5 American Robin 572 Gray Catbird 1 Northern Mockingbird 1 European Starling 1610 Cedar Waxwing 28 Yellow-rumped Warbler 3 Eastern Towhee 9 American Tree Sparrow 49 Song Sparrow 26 White-throated Sparrow 85 Dark-eyed Junco 58 Northern Cardinal 76 Common Grackle 13 Brown-headed Cowbird 2 Purple Finch 1 House Finch 65 Pine Siskin 1 American Goldfinch 64 House Sparrow 182
Total Individuals 28338 Total Species 61
Count Week Birds Seen
Red-winged Blackbird
Observers
Doug Overacker Julie Karlson Roberta Ober Harold Miller Brian Menker Larry Jeanblanc Troy Miller Keith Miller Tom Beachy
