I did my BBS route in Lincoln County a few weeks back and had normal-to-above-average counts for most species there and no really notable misses. Habitat is Lark Bunting territory and there were lots of those. I think someone reported earlier the Pawnee had lower than normal counts? Is it a phenomenon more notable in the northern part of the state, perhaps -closer to some of the big fires of last year, for example? Just curious.
Diana Beatty El Paso County On Fri, Jun 25, 2021 at 11:49 AM David Suddjian <[email protected]> wrote: > One of my Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) routes is Guanella Pass, beginning > above Georgetown in Clear Creek and proceeding along the Guanella Pass > Scenic Byway over the pass and down to Grant in Park County, and then up > Park CR 60 to its end in the upper watershed of the North Fork of the South > Platte. BBS routes have 50 stops along a 24.5 mile route, with 3 minute > samples collected at each stop once each year. > > I ran the Guanella Pass BBS route on June 22 this year, normal timing, > with good weather conditions. It was the easiest ever because there were so > few birds! The total species I detected was just 29, the lowest ever for > the route and down from the 5 year avg of 46 species. The total number of > individual birds was just 127, the lowest ever for the route, just 33% of > the 5 year avg of 387 individuals. I detected no species at all on10 stops. > It is highly unusual to record zero species during a 3 min. BBS sample when > weather conditions are reasonable. In fact, barring stops with really loud > water noise, I have *never *had zeros on a BBS stop, but 10 on this > survey?! > > 19 Species that are expected on the route (i.e., found in 3-5 of the last > 5 years) were missed entirely. A number of these misses are species which > were found in every year in recent history, such as Dusky Flycatcher, > Steller's Jay, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Mountain Bluebird, Townesend's > Solitaire, Pine Siskin, and Song Sparrow. Of the 29 species found, 15 > species were found in numbers 50% or less than the recent 5-year avg. This > included all of the species that form the core of the species assemblage of > the route except for Warbling Vireo and Wilson's Warbler, which were the > only core migrant species in near average numbers this year. Spruce-fir > forest and the alpine tundra near the Pass were the habitats that were the > most empty of bird song. > > ** A summary of missed species and those in low numbers is pasted below. > > I haven't looked in detail at my other routes, but of the 4 others I've > aready run all had notable low counts of many landbirds and more than the > normal frequency of "missing" species. > > David Suddjian > Ken Caryl Valley > Littleton, CO > > % of > Species 5 yr avg > Broad-tailed Hummingbird 22% > Red-tailed Hawk Miss > Red-naped Sapsucker Miss > Hammond's Flycatcher Miss > Dusky Flycatcher Miss > Cordilleran Flycatcher 29% > Canada Jay Miss > Steller's Jay Miss > Clark's Nutcracker Miss > Common Raven 22% > Violet-green Swallow 31% > Mountain Chickadee 20% > Red-breasted Nuthatch Miss > House Wren Miss > American Dipper Miss > Golden-crowned Kinglet Miss > Ruby-crowned Kinglet 24% > Mountain Bluebird Miss > Townsend's Solitaire Miss > Veery Miss > Swainson's Thrush Miss > Hermit Thrush 16% > American Robin 50% > Pine Grosbeak Miss > Red Crossbill Miss > Pine Siskin Miss > Fox Sparrow 16% > Gray-headed Junco 36% > White-crowned Sparrow 16% > Song Sparrow Miss > Lincoln's Sparrow 48% > Green-tailed Towhee 42% > MacGillivray's Warbler 50% > Audubon's Warbler 32% > Total Species 64% > Total individuals 33% > > -- > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "Colorado Birds" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en > * All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include > bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate > * Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/ > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Colorado Birds" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAGj6RopfakGXBG-VgNhB_KqkxAA5hbrsGSTmOYjqtVreEX3vvg%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAGj6RopfakGXBG-VgNhB_KqkxAA5hbrsGSTmOYjqtVreEX3vvg%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- ****** All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost. -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en * All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate * Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAM-_j9uBnOpaadWoQctqUhk-vx31a3frabpT8cTdcTC5ywbdyg%40mail.gmail.com.
