Mohonk Lake/Ashokan Reservoir (NYML) Christmas Bird Count December 19, 2009
Thirty-six observers in eleven field parties recorded 11,598 individuals of 71 species, plus an additional four count week (cw) species, during our 60th annual survey of this Ulster County CBC circle centered at the Ulster County Community College in Stone Ridge. Counts conducted during this most recent decade have typically recorded 64-69 species. This year's count was only the second count in our 60-year history that recorded 70 or more species (record-high of 79 species in 2007), and represents our third highest total number of individuals (previously 16,092 in 2008 and 14,162 in 2007). Temperatures were typically cold and slightly below average, ranging from an early morning low of 15° (F) at Mohonk Lake to an afternoon high of 24° (F) at Ashokan Reservoir. No precipitation was recorded during the count despite dark gray skies and solid cloud cover throughout the day. Winds were generally calm to light at 0-5 mph with occasional strong gusts at the higher elevations of Mohonk Lake. Snow cover was 100% with a hard icy crust, averaging 3"-4" in depth. Smaller ponds and slow moving bodies of water were completely frozen. Fast moving streams, Esopus Creek, Williams Lake, Ashokan Reservoir, and approximately half of Stone Ridge Pond on Mill Dam Road retained open water. Highlights include our first CBC record of a Peregrine Falcon, observed by Peter Schoenberger, Matt Corsaro, and Mira Bowin on Whitelands Rd. in Kripplebush; our first count day record of Red-breasted Merganser (previously recorded as a count week species in 1984), observed by Ev and Bob Rifenburg along the near side of Williams Lake in the Town of Rosendale; four American Wigeon (only our second count record, and a new high count eclipsing our first record of 3 in 2007), observed by Jackie Bogardus and I on Stone Ridge Pond; and our fourth count record of two American Pipits, also observed by Jackie and I, feeding on and around the base of a compost pile on Fording Place Road out on the Lomontville flats. Additional noteworthy records include 4 Bald Eagles (equals our high count in 2007), 8 Sharp-shinned Hawks (new high count, eclipsing 6 in 2007), 6 Cooper's Hawk (new high count, eclipsing 4 in 2007), 1 Red-shouldered Hawk, 64 Red-tailed Hawks (new high count, eclipsing 55 in 2006), 8 Eastern Screech-Owls (new high count, eclipsing 7 in 2007), 125 Downy Woodpeckers (new high count, eclipsing 108 in 1988), 20 Brown Creepers (new high count, eclipsing 18 in 1965), 75 Golden-crowned Kinglets (new high count, eclipsing 44 in 1987), 4 Hermit Thrushes (equals our high count in 2008), 1 White-crowned Sparrow (only our 6th count record), 1,558 Dark-eyed Juncos (new high count, eclipsing 1,252 in 2007), and 245 Northern Cardinals (new high count, eclipsing 211 in 2008). Stone Ridge Pond continues to attract and account for significant numbers of Canada Geese, Mallards, and Ring-billed Gulls; a few Mute Swans, American Black Ducks, and American Wigeon; however, overall population density was considerably less this year at 672 individuals in comparison to the 2,000+ of recent years. Four species accounted for 52% (6,065) of all individuals recorded on this year's count: Canada Goose (2,151), Dark-eyed Junco (1,558), European Starling (1,328), and American Crow (1,028). With the exception of just one Purple Finch, no winter finches (Crossbills, Redpolls, Siskins, or Grosbeaks) were encountered by any of the field parties, and blackbirds were limited to only a few count week individuals. For the third consecutive year, relatively few vultures (12) were observed in the vicinity of their former roost in New Paltz that produced record-high counts of 108 Turkey and 41 Blacks in 2006. No Common Loons were observed in the lower basin of Ashokan Reservoir. In recognition of our 60th anniversary, I thought it of some interest to look back and compare the winter population trends of two non-migratory Game species as reflected in this count's historical data. Ruffed Grouse were recorded in each of the first 40 years of this count (1950-1989) but were absent the past six years and 13 out of the last 16 years. In contrast, Wild Turkeys were only recorded once in the first 34 years (1950-1983) of this count but have now been encountered 15 out of the last 17 years with double-digit numbers in all but one year and a high count of 91 in 2004. Finally, Great Blue Herons were not recorded on this count for the first 34 years (1950-1983) but have now been encountered 18 out of the last 19 years, typically as one or two individuals, with a high count of 11 in the mild winter of 1998. Below is the complete list of species with total number of individuals (asterisks indicate unusual species for this count circle, "cw" indicates a count-week only species). I sincerely wish to thank all of the following participants for their record-high effort and continued support of this annual Ulster County tradition: David Arner, Alan Beebe, Jackie Bogardus, Alan Bowdery, Lynn Bowdery, Mira Bowin, Joe Bridges, Bea Conover, Matt Corsaro, Tom Crepet, Jane Dean, Mark DeDea, Lin Fagan, Debra Ferguson, Christine Guarino, Jim Marks, Gene McGarry, Jennifer Merriam, Frank Murphy, Jeff Nerp, Julie Noble, David Nyzio, Ev Rifenburg, Bob Rifenburg, Jonathon Rosenthal, Tom Sarro, Peter Schoenberger, Donna Seymour, Tracey Shimer, Shanan Smiley, Selden Spencer, Steve Stanne, John Thompson, Glen Van Gorden, and Charlie Woodruff. And once again this year a very special thanks to Mark DeDea for providing the facilities, hot food, and beverages for our well-attended post-count compilation at Hasbrouck Park in Kingston. Steve M. Chorvas Mohonk Lake/Ashokan Reservoir CBC Compiler Saugerties, NY ________________________ Snow Goose-1 Canada Goose-2,151 Mute Swan-7 American Wigeon-4 American Black Duck-27 Mallard-601 Hooded Merganser-18 Common Merganser-26 Red-breasted Merganser *-1 Ruffed Grouse-1 Wild Turkey-47 Horned Grebe-2 Great Blue Heron-1 Black Vulture-8 Turkey Vulture-4 Bald Eagle-4 Northern Harrier-4 Sharp-shinned Hawk-8 Cooper's Hawk-6 Accipiter sp.-1 Red-shouldered Hawk-1 Red-tailed Hawk-64 American Kestrel-4 Peregrine Falcon *-1 Ring-billed Gull-262 Herring Gull-92 Great Black-backed Gull-14 Gull sp.-4 Rock Pigeon-226 Mourning Dove-379 Eastern Screech-Owl-8 Great Horned Owl-2 Barred Owl-2 Belted Kingfisher-4 Red-bellied Woodpecker-65 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker-6 Downy Woodpecker-125 Hairy Woodpecker-28 Northern Flicker-16 Pileated Woodpecker-13 Blue Jay-484 American Crow-1,028 Common Raven-12 Horned Lark-19 Black-capped Chickadee-335 Tufted Titmouse-324 Red-breasted Nuthatch-17 White-breasted Nuthatch-155 Brown Creeper-20 Carolina Wren-31 Winter Wren-1 Golden-crowned Kinglet-75 Ruby-crowned Kinglet-1 Eastern Bluebird-58 Hermit Thrush-4 American Robin-140 Northern Mockingbird-30 European Starling-1,328 American Pipit *-2 Cedar Waxwing-128 American Tree Sparrow-217 Field Sparrow-1 Fox Sparrow-cw Song Sparrow-93 Swamp Sparrow-22 White-throated Sparrow-403 White-crowned Sparrow -1 Dark-eyed Junco-1,558 Snow Bunting-1 Northern Cardinal-245 Red-winged Blackbird-cw Common Grackle-cw Brown-headed Cowbird-cw Purple Finch-1 House Finch-79 American Goldfinch-166 House Sparrow-381 -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES Archives: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
