ROCKLAND AUDUBON SOCIETY

63^nd Christmas Bird Count Summary

Date: 12/20/2009

Thanks to all the intrepid field counters and feeder watchers for another successful count! Look for the final results in the RAS OBSERVER 64(1).

Weather: A Saturday night snow storm lingered into Sunday morning, bringing several inches of wet snow. The weather and poor road conditions delayed most groups by several hours. Snow stopped around 6-7 AM with skies clearing by about mid-day. Strong, gusty winds, however, remained throughout the day. Temperatures ranged from well below freezing in the morning (19°F) to a high of nearly 35 °F at 2 PM. Average wind speed was approximately 5-7 mph throughout the night, but dropped to about 1 mph at dawn. Average wind speeds remained low until about noon, then increased to an average of about 3 mph. Peak gusts during midday generally ranged from 8 to 28 mph. Wind direction was generally NE-NW. There was a fresh snow cover of 3-4 inches over the count circle. Lakes and ponds were largely frozen, but generally included some open water. Slower moving streams were largely frozen while swift moving waters remained open. The Hudson River was nearly ice-free.

Field Observers (30 adults, 4 fledgling, a.k.a. 18 or younger.): Group 1: Alan Wells, Della Wells, Julia Warger; Group 2: Gene Herskovics, Group 3: Jessie Traband, Frank Kemmer, Caroline McDonald; Group 4: Bonnie Koop, Joanna Galdone; Group 5: Susan Freiman, Pat Murray; Group 6: Stephanie Garber, Michael Garber, Glenys Foster Roberts, Veronika Krause; Anita Gossett, Ronnie Smith; Group 7: Carol Weiss, Marsha Meyer, Ken McNichol, Bernie Doyle; Group 8: Jim Previdi, Dan Albantides, Tom Rowe, Jeremy Pardo, Yudi Pardo, Mickey Pardo, Gene Brown; Group 9: Vince Plogar, Tom Harten, Tom Dow, Chris Healy, Karl Knoecklein, Drew Ciganek.

Feeder Counters (14): Frank Bonanno, Nancy Slowik, Laurence Pringle, William Fahan, Steve McDunna, Howard Meiner, Karen D'Alessandri, Dina Shandling, Pardo Family, Carol Weiss, Pat Murray, Judy Kesselman, Chris Healy, Beverly Simone.

Coverage (Preliminary): 272 miles traveled by car, 37 miles traveled by foot.

Results: The 63^rd Rockland Audubon Christmas Bird Count was held December 20, 2009. A total of 34 people participated in the field compared to 42 in 2008. A total of 24,167 individual birds, representing 83 species were counted by the field observers. An additional 893 individuals were added by the feeder counters. Feeder counters tallied 38 species, one of which, Purple Finch, was not observed by the field counters. One additional species, Killdeer, was reported during count week (three days before and three days after count day). Overall, the number of species counted (85) is typical of recent years. The total number of individuals, 25,060, was slightly higher than those observed during the last 7-8 years. The top five species—Common Grackle (8,817), Canada Goose (4,004), European Starling (2,401), Canvasback (1,514), and American Robin (1,115)—made up 67% of the total number observed.

Highlights: The most exciting find was the Barnacle Goose seen at Piermont Pier by Drew Ciganek and Karl Knoecklein. This represents the first occurrence of this species in Rockland County.

Photo 1. Julia counting geese at Peck’s Pond, Haverstraw, NY.

Photo 2. Young Cooper’s Hawk near Stony Point Battlefield.

Photo 3. Ring-billed Gull was the sixth most abundant species in 2009.

Photo 4. This Northern Mockingbird was feasting on Bittersweet berries.

Photo 5. This Mallard × American Black Duck hybrid was still present on a small pond at Letchworth Village. It was originally spotted a few days before the 2008 CBC.

Photo 6. Two of the large numbers of Turkey Vultures basking near the Letchworth Golf Course trash bins.

Photo 7. Black Vultures began to appear regularly on the CBC in 2005. Count numbers have remained at approximately 50 to 55 since 2006.

Photo 8. White-tailed Deer were frequently seen throughout the day.

Photo 9. Some of the counters at the countdown potluck dinner.

Preliminary Results
Common Name	Region Total		Feeder Total		Count Week		Rank
Common Grackle		8796		21		0		1
Canada Goose		3979		25		0		2
European Starling		2357		44		0		3
Canvasback		1514		0		0		4
American Robin		1112		3		0		5
Ring-billed Gull		1073		6		0		6
Dark-eyed Junco		888		149		0		7
White-throated Sparrow		469		65		0		8
Mallard		514		0		0		9
House Sparrow		336		127		0		10
Song Sparrow		298		24		0		11
Common Merganser		314		0		0		12
Red-winged Blackbird		253		47		0		13
American Crow		248		25		0		14
Blue Jay		192		43		0		15
Mourning Dove		148		57		0		16
Tufted Titmouse		133		39		0		17
Northern Cardinal		123		40		0		18
Black-capped Chickadee		118		36		0		19
Rock Pigeon		122		0		0		20
American Tree Sparrow		113		3		0		21
Downy Woodpecker		63		22		0		22
Red-bellied Woodpecker		57		13		0		23
White-breasted Nuthatch		41		21		0		24
House Finch		37		25		0		24
Turkey Vulture		57		3		0		26
Northern Mockingbird		59		0		0		27
Ruddy Duck		55		0		0		28
Black Vulture		52		3		0		28
Red-tailed Hawk		47		3		0		30
Gadwall		47		0		0		31
Hooded Merganser		42		0		0		32
Herring Gull		41		0		0		33
American Goldfinch		26		13		0		34
Carolina Wren		32		4		0		35
Bufflehead		34		0		0		36
American Black Duck		33		0		0		37
Wild Turkey		26		4		0		38
Hairy Woodpecker		21		4		0		39
Northern Shoveler		24		0		0		40
Northern Flicker		22		0		0		41
Mute Swan		20		0		0		42
Great Black-backed Gull		18		0		0		43
Yellow-rumped Warbler		18		0		0		43
Ring-necked Duck		15		0		0		45
Golden-crowned Kinglet		14		0		0		46
Fox Sparrow		4		10		0		46
Double-crested Cormorant		13		0		0		48
Great Blue Heron		13		0		0		48
Wood Duck		12		0		0		50
Bald Eagle		10		0		0		51
Gray Catbird		7		3		0		51
Cooper's Hawk		6		2		0		53
Pileated Woodpecker		7		1		0		53
Belted Kingfisher		7		0		0		55
Brown Creeper		6		1		0		55
Snow Bunting		7		0		0		55
Brown-headed Cowbird		5		2		0		55
Sharp-shinned Hawk		4		2		0		59
American Coot		6		0		0		59
Great Horned Owl		6		0		0		59
Eastern Screech-Owl		5		0		0		62
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker		5		0		0		62
Common Goldeneye		4		0		0		64
Common Raven		4		0		0		64
Red-breasted Nuthatch		3		1		0		64
Hermit Thrush		4		0		0		64
Great Egret		3		0		0		68
Winter Wren		3		0		0		68
Eastern Bluebird		3		0		0		68
Cedar Waxwing		3		0		0		68
Savannah Sparrow		3		0		0		68
Horned Grebe		2		0		0		73
Red-shouldered Hawk		1		1		0		73
Eastern Towhee		2		0		0		73
Snow Goose		1		0		0		76
American Wigeon		1		0		0		76
Mallard × American Black Duck		1		0		0		76
Scaup spp.		1		0		0		76
Northern Harrier		1		0		0		76
Peregrine Falcon		1		0		0		76
Wilson's Snipe		1		0		0		76
Ruby-crowned Kinglet		1		0		0		76
Purple Finch		0		1		0		76

Plus Count Week: Killdeer.

Updated 12/28/08