~~~~~~~~~~~
The Brattleboro Area Christmas Bird Count
by
Chris Petrak
The Brattleboro Area Christmas Bird Count (CBC) took
place last Saturday. Twenty-five people in seven teams covered an
area with a 15-mile radius looking for wintering birds and
late-departing summer birds. Each team spent an average of 6 hours
in the field, drove an accumulated 323 miles and walked an
additional 6 miles. In addition, about a dozen people did feeder
counts and reported their species numbers. By the end of the day,
42 species had been recorded with a total bird count of 2,944
birds.
While
the weather was cold and the wind brisk, the conditions generally
were the best in several years. Skies were clear, the sun was
bright, and the roads were clear. Thin ice in a few places
prevented some exploration, and snow cover kept the number of
miles walked on the low side. Veteran participants were
enthusiastic about the good conditions.
On
the other hand, the number of species reported, 42, was the lowest
in over a decade, and in recent years, only 1999 counted fewer
birds. The low number of species is probably due to winter getting
an early grip. In previous years, the CBC has had such
fair-weather species as Great Blue Heron, Wood Duck, Ruby-crowned
Kinglet, Chipping Sparrow, Robin, Cowbird, and Towhee. No such
fair-weather species were reported this year. Either they have all
gone south, or the individuals that lingered were done in by the
weather.
Winter finches were present as predicted for the most part.
There were several small flocks of Common Redpolls, plus a single
flock estimated at 80-plus, for a total of 165. The redpolls
maintained their every-other-year pattern. Other species which
follow a similar irruptive pattern were the Evening Grosbeak (36
in 2001; 47 in 2003) and the Red-breasted Nuthatch (22 in 2003,
the highest number recorded on a Brattleboro CBC).
One
surprise was the complete absence of the Pine Siskin. They follow
a regular pattern of irrupting in the eastern states one year, and
the western states the next. They were reported in November and
early December in our area, but on the count day, they were
nowhere to be found. Perhaps they continued moving south with the
goldfinches with which they travel. Goldfinch numbers were okay,
but the flocks seemed smaller than just a few weeks
ago.
Bird
population numbers can vary widely from year to year, impacted by
the food supply during breeding season, and the food supply,
winter weather conditions, disease, and many other factors during
other times of the year. In 1999, it was difficult finding Blue
Jays, and only 44 were counted that year. But their population
rebounded the following year, and there has been a steady
wintering population in the subsequent years. This year, 270 Blue
Jays were counted.
Looking over the count numbers from recent
years, Dark-eyed Junco may be another species that goes through
irruptive cycles, or population boom and bust cycles. This year is
one of the down years with 93. Previous counts for juncos are:
2002: 402; 2001: 37; 2000: 1101; 1999: 30; and 1998:
393.
Black-capped Chickadees are doing very well in our
neighborhoods; at 572, it was the most commonly counted bird on
this year’s Christmas count. Its cousin, the Tufted Titmouse, a
southern species that has been extending its range northward, has
also been increasing its wintering presence.
After the
chickadees, the next-most-common species was the Rock Dove, now
officially renamed as the Rock Pigeon, popularly known as simply
“pigeon,” and sometimes referred to as “rats with wings.” At 414,
mainly around Brattleboro, the healthy presence of pigeons also
provides a good food source for wintering hawks, such as the
Sharp-shinned (5), Cooper’s (1) and Red-tailed (6). There was also
one late Red-shouldered Hawk (hatch year) soaring in the Black
Mountain area.
All birds are wanderers during the winter, often
traveling long distances in search of food. Some are highly
nomadic, and it is chance that gets them seen and recorded. Cedar
Waxwings, for example, winter in our area in substantial numbers,
but their flocks are very nomadic. Only two count teams recorded
waxwings this year. One team found a group of seven—the other, a
flock of 80-plus.
A couple of weeks ago, someone called me with
a very unexpected question. She wanted to know what had happened
to all the starlings this year. As it turned out, it was a good
question. The number of starlings counted this year was half of
the next-lowest count for the last dozen years. Last year the
number of starlings was 640; this year it was 187. Have they gone
south? Or has something else, disease perhaps, caused a crash in
their numbers? Most people I know would be happy to see this
overly successful, exotic, invasive species disappear from North
America. That is not going to happen. But why such a decline in
numbers?
Red-bellied Woodpeckers, another species extending its
range northward, continued their winter presence; three were
reported. On the other hand, the Carolina Wren, which has become a
regular, was absent. Additional “missing” species were Northern
Goshawk, Ruffed Grouse, Great Black-backed Gull, Northern Flicker,
all of the owls, and the Horned Lark.
In
the middle of the week, three “missing” species were reported:
Mallard, Common Goldeneye, and Hooded Merganser. Finally, the Pine
Ciskin, Carolina Wren, and the Horned Lark made an end-of-count
week appearance, as did the Peregrine Falcon, a first appearance
in the history of the Christmas Bird Count.
Good Birding.
Christmas
Bird Count 5 Year Comparison Statistics
This article first appeared in Chris Petrak’s
“Tailfeathers” column in the Dec. 19, 2003, Brattleboro
Reformer.
~~~~~~~~~~~
2003 Putney Mountain Hawk Watch
Season
by Chris Petrak
The 2003 hawk
watch season on Putney Mountain lasted longer than usual due to
good November weather. From August through November, there were
watchers on the mountain
on 76 days, logging 346 hours of
coverage.
During September and October, only on rainy days were
observers absent. This makes Putney Mountain one of the most
thoroughly covered hawk watch sites in the northeast. Places like
Hawk Mountain in Pennsylvania and Cape May, New Jersey, employ
naturalists in order to provide continuous coverage. Putney
Mountain is all volunteers.
With
this extensive coverage, the hawk count totals were the
second-highest recorded to date, with 7,055 raptors counted. Only
1999, with 7,751, yielded a higher count.
Before continuing with the count numbers, however, an
emphatic caution must be made. The hawk count numbers for a single
site are meaningless by themselves. They acquire significance only
when they are analyzed along with all of the other counts from the
dozens of watch sites in the eastern flight corridor. Many factors
can affect where migrating hawks fly. Some wind and weather
patterns will concentrate hawks along the seacoast; others will
concentrate them along ridge lines, and yet others will disperse
them over a wide area.
For
example, at 4,608, Putney Mountain had its second-best year for
Broad-winged Hawks; the number in 2002 was 4,961. But does this
mean that Broad-winged Hawks are doing well? Not necessarily.
Watch sites in Massachusetts, such as Mt. Wachusett, had very poor
count numbers; the numbers at Wachusett are normally several
thousand more than at Putney Mountain. Putney Mountain’s numbers
may be an exception. Or they may mean that the Broad-winged Hawks
were dispersed from Putney Mountain and westward. The only thing
that can be said with certainty, is that on Putney Mountain from
Sept. 9 to 21, there were a bunch of really exciting days with up
to a thousand broadies seen in a day.
The
highlight of the season was the Bald Eagles. Clearly, they have
been recovering in the East from near extinction, and that
recovery had been reflected over the last decade with growing
cumulative numbers from watch sites. In 2000, Putney Mountain set
its site record for Bald Eagles with 40 birds. By mid-September,
that number had been exceeded, and by the end of the season,
shattered. Sixty-six bald eagles were seen by the Putney watchers
this year. On two occasions, Sept. 5 and 9, there were 11 Bald
Eagles! On Sept. 9, Broad-winged Hawk numbers were over 700.
Watchers on the mountain on that day were soaring with the
hawks!
John
Anderson coordinates the hawk watchers to the degree that anyone
can coordinate that group of hawk-obsessed volunteers. He keeps
the official count records, and it is his report that provided the
statistics for this column. In his report, he wrote: “About a
million children came to the mountain this year. They were guided,
instructed, and accepted by all ... even on peak Broad-winged
days. Some of those children will be our future environmental
stewards ... This is the report— the numbers—two-plus months of
something we all lived—boiled down to statistics. It can’t do
justice to the sun, the sky, the wind, the ever-changing clouds.
Until another year, memory will have to suffice.”
Hawk
Watch 5 Year Comparison Statistics
Adapted from Chris’s “Tailfeathers” column in the Dec.
26, 2003, Brattleboro Reformer.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Great
Backyard Bird Count: Feb. 13-16, 2004
Sponsored by the
National Audubon Society & the Cornell Laboratory of
Ornithology
How is this winter affecting North American bird
populations? You can help scientists answer that question by
participating in this year’s Great Backyard Bird Count. As Chris
Petrak wrote in his article about the Putney Mountain Hawk Watch,
bird counts are most meaningful when they can be analyzed from
numerous sites.
Here’s how you can
help:
Count the birds in your
backyard, local park, or other natural area on any or all of the
four count days. For each species of bird you see, record the
highest number of individuals that you observe at any one time
during your count. Don’t add a bird every time you see one; you
could be counting the same individual.
Watch
the birds for at least 15 minutes on each day you participate —
longer is better.
Enter your highest counts
at the Great Backyard Bird Count website:
http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/
…
and visit the Map Room to track the results. The website also
offers guidance for participating in the bird count, plus helpful
“Birding Tools,” such as tips for bird watching and bird feeding,
and ideas for educators.
