Saturday, 15 May 2010 Ulster County May Census
Larry Alden, Jackie Bogardus, and I conducted a county-wide "Big Day" bird count as participants in the annual Ulster County Spring Census sponsored by the John Burroughs Natural History Society. This "Century Day" count is an attempt to locate as many species of birds as possible within Ulster County in one day. We were out in the field from 2:45 a.m.- 8:45 p.m. and traveled 203 miles (day and night) from the north county line in Saugerties, south to Gardiner along the eastern Hudson River Valley, and west over the Shawangunks to Peekamoose Road in the Catskills and the Ashokan Reservoir basin. Weather conditions were very pleasant with mostly sunny skies and a clear but moonless night. Winds were generally light at 5-15 mph with occasional strong gusts, initially from the south shifting to NW by late morning. Temperatures were very comfortable at 54-72 degrees (F). We encountered a total of 127 species, equal to our 2009 effort and consistent with our most recent past six years (127, 128, 138, 128, 130, 129), exclusive of our exceptional 138 species in 2007. Highlights include a Ring-necked Duck and Pied-billed Grebe at The Great Vly in Saugerties, several Black Vultures in the southern part of the county, two Broad-winged Hawks, a nice mix of shorebirds for a change (including Semipalmated Plover, Semipalmated Sandpiper, and Upland Sandpiper), two Bonaparte's Gulls at Kingston Point, Ruby-crowned Kinglet at Saugerties Reservoir, Brown Thrasher at the former IBM Recreation Center fields in the Town of Ulster, single Wilson's Warblers at three locations, Mourning Warbler at the Pine Road trailhead to Duck Pond at Mohonk in New Paltz, and a White-crowned Sparrow at Saugerties Reservoir. Cedar Waxwings were surprisingly numerous and widespread, and we encountered one Green Heron in the Kelly Rd./Rte 32 marsh in northern Saugerties Township (both species can be unreliable during a time-sensitive big day count). Disappointing misses for our group include Brant, American Black Duck, Hooded Merganser, Osprey, Red-shouldered Hawk, Herring Gull, Common Nighthawk, Whip-poor-will, Belted Kingfisher, Blue-headed Vireo, Common Raven, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, Nashville Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, and Dark-eyed Junco. Despite some time-consuming effort, we were not able to detect Red-headed Woodpecker or Hooded Warbler on previously reliable breeding territories, and we were not able to confirm the presence of Acadian Flycatchers on this relatively ideal date, despite encountering three good candidates in known habitat that were ultimately relegated to unidentified Empidonax flycatchers. Ruffed Grouse, Great Horned Owl, Swainson's Thrush, bitterns, accipiters, grassland sparrows; Tennessee, Cape May, Bay-breasted, and Cerulean Warblers are typically challenging and continue to elude us on count day. Consistent with recent past years, migrants were scarce with relatively small numbers of individuals for the few migrating species we did encounter, and we did not locate any significant flocks of warblers. Our complete list of species is appended below. Thanks to Larry and Jackie for another enjoyable day in the field. Steve M. Chorvas Saugerties, NY 2010 Ulster County May Census - Field Party A May 15, 2010 Total Species: 127 Canada Goose Mute Swan Wood Duck Mallard Ring-necked Duck Common Merganser Wild Turkey Common Loon Pied-billed Grebe Double-crested Cormorant Great Blue Heron Green Heron Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Bald Eagle Northern Harrier Broad-winged Hawk Red-tailed Hawk American Kestrel Virginia Rail Semipalmated Plover Killdeer Greater Yellowlegs Solitary Sandpiper Spotted Sandpiper Upland Sandpiper Semipalmated Sandpiper Least Sandpiper American Woodcock Bonaparte's Gull Ring-billed Gull Great Black-backed Gull Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Yellow-billed Cuckoo Eastern Screech-Owl Barred Owl Chimney Swift Ruby-throated Hummingbird Red-bellied Woodpecker Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker Northern Flicker Pileated Woodpecker Eastern Wood-Pewee Willow Flycatcher Least Flycatcher Eastern Phoebe Great Crested Flycatcher Eastern Kingbird Yellow-throated Vireo Warbling Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Blue Jay American Crow Fish Crow Purple Martin Tree Swallow No. Rough-winged Swallow Bank Swallow Cliff Swallow Barn Swallow Black-capped Chickadee Tufted Titmouse Red-breasted Nuthatch White-breasted Nuthatch Brown Creeper Carolina Wren House Wren Winter Wren Marsh Wren Ruby-crowned Kinglet Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Eastern Bluebird Veery Wood Thrush American Robin Gray Catbird Northern Mockingbird Brown Thrasher European Starling Cedar Waxwing Blue-winged Warbler Northern Parula Yellow Warbler Chestnut-sided Warbler Magnolia Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Blackburnian Warbler Pine Warbler Prairie Warbler Blackpoll Warbler Black-and-white Warbler American Redstart Worm-eating Warbler Ovenbird Louisiana Waterthrush Mourning Warbler Common Yellowthroat Wilson's Warbler Canada Warbler Scarlet Tanager Eastern Towhee Chipping Sparrow Field Sparrow Savannah Sparrow Song Sparrow Swamp Sparrow White-throated Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Northern Cardinal Rose-breasted Grosbeak Indigo Bunting Bobolink Red-winged Blackbird Eastern Meadowlark Common Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird Orchard Oriole Baltimore Oriole Purple Finch House Finch American Goldfinch House Sparrow [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
