PRELIMINARY ROCKLAND COUNTY CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT SUMMARY, 2016
The 70th annual Rockland County Christmas Bird Count was held on Sunday, December 18, 2016. A total of 35 field counters and 5 feeders counter participated. Weather conditions were poor throughout the entire day. The count was dogged by heavy fog and periodic rain/drizzle until about 1:30 PM. At that time a rapidly moving cold front brought wind gusts over 30 mph and a precipitous drop in air temperature. The field and feeder counters reported a total of 11,552 individuals representing 88 species. This is the 6th highest species count (91th percentile) for the entire count period 1947-2016 and the 6th highest (85th percentile for the period 1978-2016 (when the circle center was moved to the present location). The total number of individuals is, however, low. It is the 25th lowest count (36th percentile for the period 1947-2016 and the 2nd lowest count (3rd percentile for the period 1978-2016. The ongoing Count Week period (ongoing until 12/21/2016) has yielded 2 additional species to date, bringing the overall species count to 90. New Species: Only one new species has been added this year, a juvenile Baltimore Oriole showed up on a feeder for several days prior to count day. Unfortunately, it failed to make an appearance on count day. New High Counts: The only new high count established this year is for Horned Lark. The new high count is 56 compared to 40 established in 2007. Unusual Sightings: Two Evening Grosbeak. This species has not been seen on a Rockland County CBC since 1986. Two Merlin, one on count day and a second during count week (not counted). Merlin have occurred in only 9 years since 1947 (first sighting was not until 1992). Noteable Misses: American Kestrel reported 55 times since 1947; Hermit Thrush (although found during Count Week) reported 47 times since 1947; Yellow-rumped Warbler reported 53 times since 1947; Field Sparrow reported 56 times since 1947; and Purple Finch reported 60 times since 1947. Top 10 species: European Starling (2572), Canada Goose (2008), Ring-billed Gull (1144), Dark-eyed Junco (756), House Sparrow (716), Mallard (568), American Robin (442), Common Merganser (354), Blue Jay (339), and Mourning Dove (248). These 10 species make up a total of 76% of the total individuals counted. Alan Wells Compiler, Rockland Audubon Society -- 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/[email protected]/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/ --
