The Captree CBC, in southwestern Suffolk County, Long Island, was conducted on Sunday, 16 December 2018 under challenging conditions of 15-20 mph northeast winds and rain. Despite the difficulties, coverage was excellent and the species total of 117 was right there between our 57-year average of 116 species and our ten-year average of 118.
Some of the more unusual species were: Red-necked Grebe Robert Moses SP Virginia Rail West Sayville area American Bittern Cedar Beach/Oak Beach/Captree area Turkey Vulture Islip area--just the second ever on this count Two Northern Saw-whet Owls 4 Eastern Phoebes--in keeping with this species' remarkable run on other regional CBCs this weekend 38 Tree Swallows Cedar Beach/Oak Beach/Captree area Marsh Wren Heckscher area 3 Purple Finches Fire Island Lighthouse, Democrat Pt, and Belmont Lake area 2 Lapland Longspurs Democrat Pt and West Sayville area White-crowned Sparrow Captree SP Baltimore Oriole West Islip feeder Orange-crowned Warbler Fire Island Lighthouse Common Yellowthroat Heckscher area Palm Warbler Cedar Beach/Oak Beach/Captree area There was also a spectacular crush of Razorbills, passing west to east close to shore on the ocean front, totaling 1,145! To put this is perspective, the previous CBC maximum was just 12. Other notable high counts included 11 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, all at Robert Moses and Democrat Pt, greatly exceeding the previous max of three, and 322 Common Eiders, also at Fire Island, far above the previous high of 86. The most disappointing misses were: American Wigeon--the first time missed in 57 years Northern Pintail Black-bellied Plover Greater Yellowlegs Bonaparte's Gull Great Horned Owl American Kestrel--present today, of course Brown-headed Cowbird Many counts were lower than usual, which is not surprising given the obstacles to detection caused by wind and rain. The compilation dinner at Villa Monaco in West Islip seemed especially cheerful and festive this year, and we gratefully acknowledge a generous contribution again this year from the Great South Bay Audubon Society, reducing the cost of the meal for our participants. We will finalize the results in the coming days and share them with Great South Bay Audubon and anyone else who requests a summary. Shai Mitra & Patricia Lindsay Bay Shore, NY -- 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/ --
