The Montauk CBC took place on Saturday (17 Dec 2016). Early counters faced difficult conditions with low temperatures and a couple of inches of snow. This switched to heavy rain around daybreak that continued through the morning. Teams working on foot were first frozen then drenched. Ugh! Fortunately, the weather improved considerably during the afternoon becoming much warmer and drier, although some places remained shrouded in mist. In the late afternoon shafts of sunlight broke through the dark clouds and bathed the landscape in gold.
All told, the count tallied a very respectable 118 species, with two additional (count week) species, Short-eared Owl and Greater White-fronted Goose found on Friday and Sunday, respectively. Highlights on count day included 34 Razorbills (scarce so far this winter), single Snowy and Saw-whet owls, American Kestrel, Eastern Phoebe, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-breasted Chat and Rusty Blackbird. One new species was added, a Common Raven on Gardiner's Island, bringing the count list to 229 species. In light of the remarkable expansion of ravens throughout New York State, this only seemed a matter of time. We also scored a new high count for American Bittern of two, with lone individuals skulking in marshes along the edges of Accabonac and Napeague Harbors. Three Virginia Rails were located, two at Big Reed Pond in Montauk and one off Landing Lane in Accabonac. Misses included a number of ducks. King Eider and Harlequin Duck were not found despite good numbers of eider and scoter in the waters surrounding Montauk Point and freshwater species were mostly displaced onto the ocean by the freeze. A small party managed to visit Gardiner's Island in the late afternoon but found the main freshwater pond entirely frozen. The pond normally hosts a variety of waterfowl, often species not found elsewhere, but on count day the pond was essentially birdless. Winter finches were largely absent with no sightings of crossbills, redpolls or siskins but a handful of Purple Finch were found. So much for the Evening Grosbeaks many of us had been dreaming of. Less fanciful possibilities, Black-legged Kittiwake, Great Yellowlegs, Eastern Bluebird and White-crowned Sparrow also went unseen. An unusual number of Baltimore Orioles have lingered on Long Island this fall, some into December, but none were found during the count, perhaps also victims of the vicious cold snap in the week leading up to the count. Our thanks to everyone who joined us in the field regardless of the grim conditions. It was also gratifying that so many counters were able to stop in at Felicia's Restaurant in Amagansett after dark to share news of the day and enjoy a warming meal. Requests to restore the end of day compilation were duly noted and we will try to make this happen next year. Speaking of which, the next year’s Montauk CBC will take place on Saturday 16 December 2017. We have an abundance of wonderful territory and welcome eager counters. Additional reminders will go out closer to the date. Karen Rubinstein & Angus Wilson Co-Compilers, Montauk CBC -- 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/ --
