The 77th Southern Nassau County CBC was conducted on Sunday, 1 January 2017, by 78 participants. The weather was quite good for a CBC, and the only weather-related frustration was that bright sun and a brisk westerly wind hampered ocean viewing during the morning.
The fine weather on a New Year’s morning attracted many scores of non-participant birders to our species-rich circle, and several long-staying rarities were reported and updated redundantly throughout the day. Praise is due to our many duty-conscious participants who champed their bits and stayed on task, even as news of delectable and hard-to-find year-birds hummed through their mobile devices. Pardons have been issued to those who spat their bits only briefly, and who limited their poaching runs to sites within the circle. A very interesting feature of this CBC is the great regularity with which really rare birds are found on count day by active participants, and memories of species such as Grace’s Warbler, Chestnut-collared Longspur, and Harris’s Sparrow are still fresh for many. This year’s count was true to form, with discoveries of Ash-throated Flycatcher, Audubon’s Warbler, and Eared Grebe. In my opinion, the greater frequency of such discoveries on count-day vs. other close dates, and the higher proportion of participants vs. year-listers among the finders, both point to the merits of the CBC-style approach to birding: patience, thoroughness, and receptivity to all birds one might encounter yield more exciting discoveries than trap-lining staked-out novelties. The day came together very well, and our total of 140 species was our highest since we totaled 143 on 30 December 2007. Ash-throated Flycatcher was a new addition to the cumulative species list, as was Northern Waterthrush. Audubon’s Warbler was recorded for just the second time, as was Osprey. Third records included Eared Grebe, Common Raven, and Nashville Warbler (2!). Fourth records included Cackling Goose and Sora. For the record, and to provide some perspective on relative rarity, this year’s Black-headed Gull constituted the 22nd record for this CBC. The many additional highlights included such standouts as Blue-winged Teal, Red-necked Grebe, Tricolored Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Bald Eagle, Razorbill, Lapland Longspur, Palm Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, and Chipping Sparrow. There were no really bad misses, the worst being Ring-necked Pheasant, Wilson’s Snipe, Barn Owl, and Snowy Owl. High counts included 777 Red-throated Loons, 7184 Ring-billed Gulls, 63 Red-bellied Woodpeckers, 11 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, 9 Merlins, 2488 Fish Crows (vs. 107 American and 5 Ravens), 217 Black-capped Chickadees, 63 Red-breasted Nuthatches, 62 White-breasted Nuthatches, 734 Snow Buntings, and 3659 Common Grackles. Low counts included 1 Redhead, 46 Lesser Scaup, 196 Ruddy Ducks, 1 Great Cormorant, 2 Bonaparte’s Gulls (difficult to believe), and 3425 Herring Gulls. Turkey Vulture and Snowy Owl were present during count week but not found on the day of the count. News of others (Rough-legged Hawk?) would be appreciated. Many thanks to all, and best wishes for good birding in this new year. Shai Mitra & Patricia Lindsay Bay Shore -- 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/ --
