The 58th Captree Christmas Bird Count, in southwestern Suffolk County, was conducted on Sunday, December 20th, 2020. The count had an impressive showing of 51 participants who were thankfully able to cover their areas, all while simultaneously taking the strictest COVID-19 precautions. After the recent snowfall and a spell of very cold weather, a layer of slick ice over a few inches of crunchy snow made conditions relatively challenging for observers, made slightly worse by morning snowfall turning to rain and coastal fog just after midday. However, despite less than desirable conditions, temperatures rose through the day and a lack of windchill allowed for a relatively pleasant count with some great birds.
In total, 37,586 individual birds of an impressive 128 species were counted. This total is only 1 species greater than last year, but well above the 58-year average of 116 species and ten-year average of 118. A sampling of our more unusual species (ordered somewhat taxonomically) are listed below: American Oystercatcher - Fire Red Knot - Fire Bald Eagle - East American Woodcock - Connetquot Wilson's Snipe - Connetquot Black-crowned Night Heron - Gardiner Iceland Gull - Belmont Glaucous Gull - Jones Northern Saw-whet Owl - Seatuck, East Marsh Wren - Jones, Seatuck, East Sedge Wren - East (certainly the best bird species of the Count!) Pine Warbler - Connetquot Common Yellowthroat - East Orange-crowned Warbler - Seatuck Eastern Meadowlark - East The Captree Count was able to get in on some of this year's northern finch irruption as well. Common Redpolls were seen in Jones, Purple Finch was seen in North, and a total of 83 Red Crossbills were observed across four parties. Evening Grosbeak and Pine Siskin were missed, with most of these birds well past us at this point. In addition, the count netted six count-week birds: Snow Goose, American Wigeon, Redhead, Great Egret, Eastern Bluebird, and Yellow-breasted Chat which brings the count-week total to 134. Two notable "forms" were observed as well: *borealis* Common Eider and Ipswich Savannah Sparrow. Echoing Brooklyn's new high count for Bonaparte's Gull, the count tallied 4,224 of this species, representing a new maximum. This count is not only high for this count, but considered very good by modern standards, as this is a bird we have completely missed in recent years. Additional new maxima included Common Eider (502), King Eider (3), American Oystercatcher (5), Northern Saw-whet Owl (4), Horned Lark (170), Carolina Wren (200), American Pipit (68), Chipping Sparrow (8), Song Sparrow (703), Swamp Sparrow (113), among others. While some numbers were low, we luckily managed to avoid too many unbelievable misses (at least by recent standards). As above, some ducks such as American Wigeon and Redhead were relegated to count-week birds as they were not observed on the 20th. Some species which can be tough to pin down such as Great Cormorant and Wild Turkey were also not observed. Unfortunately, the Long-billed Dowitcher(s) which typically spend the first part of the winter at Santapogue Creek have not been around lately, and were missed. A late-lingering species often encountered on CBCs, Palm Warbler, was also missed for this count, likely due to the weather. Luckily, as above, this pattern did not befall the other warblers within reach such as Common Yellowthroat and Orange-crowned Warbler. Understandably, COVID-19 precluded the ability to have an in-person compilation; one of the real highlights of the day. After last year's switch to our new, and hopefully permanent, compilation location at Sea Levels in Bay Shore, a compilation was held virtually, over Zoom. We would like to extend our gratitude to the New York State Parks Department, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Town of Babylon, and the Seatuck Environmental Association. We are grateful that these agencies permit our count participants to access various parks, wildlife refuges, etc. which may be typically restricted to the public. Results will be shared with the Audubon Society, USFWS, Great South Bay Audubon, and anyone else who requests a summary. Thank you to all who joined. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you're interested in joining this Christmas Bird Count for 2021! Best wishes for the holiday season, Co-compilers Brent Bomkamp and Taylor Sturm -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
