I'd like to mention that full data for these counts, including effort, weather, and participants' names, will be published in the June 2010 issue of "The Kingbird," the journal of the New York State Ornithological Association--and I'd like to invite the compilers of other counts in NYS to contribute their data for publication as well.
If you haven't done this before, please don't hesitate to contact me regarding how to format your data. There are several major advantages to publishing NYS CBC data in "The Kingbird" in addition to uploading data online to the National Audubon Society site. 1. The data published in "The Kingbird" clearly specify the species and subspecies reported, using uniform conventions across all the counts in NYS. In contrast, the online database collects and presents data under a bewildering variety of partially overlapping names. This problem is not a mere inconvenience; it is an almost intractable obstacle to simple data analysis. For instance, if one wanted to quantify something as simple as the rise and fall of wintering numbers of Great Black-backed Gull on Long Island during the last century, one wouldn’t find this name in the database at all until some time after Lesser Black-backed Gulls began appearing in North America, at which point compilers began reporting the common species under its full English name. Records from earlier years would have to be deliberately retrieved under ‘black-backed gull species’ and then integrated in the analysis by brute force. Even worse, some birds continue to be reported under different names from year to year, even on the same count. For instance, one of Long Island’s most numerous waterfowl, Brant (Branta bernicla), appears in the database under no fewer than eight names. ‘Brant,’ ‘Brant (hrota),’ ‘Brant (nigricans),’ ‘White-bellied Brant,’ ‘Black Brant,’ ‘American Brant,’ ‘Black Sea Brant,’ and ‘Pacific Black Brant.’ A researcher wishing to analyze data for this species has no choice but to make separate queries for every one of these names, download the results of each query, and integrate the multiple data sets. The last task is extremely difficult because some of the names in question are simple synonyms or refer to completely distinct taxa, whereas others (e.g., ‘Brant’ and ‘Brant (hrota)’) overlap only in part. These ambiguities were formerly easily resolved by recourse to the published data, in which nobody could mistake the continuity between the 20,000 ‘Brant’ reported on a count one year and the 17,000 ‘Brant (hrota)’ reported there the next year, or what was meant by 3 ‘Towhees’ on a New York CBC. The tabular output currently available from the electronic database is another matter altogether, and even after laborious mining and reprocessing, many simple questions remain essentially impossible to answer. 2. "The Kingbird" strives to present full data for effort, weather, and participants' names--none of which can be obtained easily from the online database. For instance, it is increasingly common for people to participate on a CBC as usual, but to decline to pay the $5 fee, forcing the compiler to omit these people's names (and in some cases, even any numerical trace of their effort!) from the data uploaded to the Audubon site. 3. Finally, one of the greatest pleasures of CBC participation comes from browsing through multiple counts of many kinds--rival counts for highest species lists, other counts held on the same glorious (or miserable) day as one's own count, counts that one used to attend in past years, or counts in which distant friends actively participate. Almost everyone I know laments the near impossibility of doing this via a series of carefully conceived, directed searches though the online database. In contrast, "The Kingbird's" CBC issue can be browsed as intensively or as casually as one wishes--and can be searched electronically also! (see: http://www.nybirds.org/KBsearch.htm) Compilers frustrated with problems such as these have a recourse, through publication of their results in "The Kingbird." Similarly, active CBC participants who are not compilers might consider offering to assist the compiler(s) of their favorite counts with the extra work associated with formatting the results for "The Kingbird." Finally, I'd like to correct three errors in the preliminary summaries posted last night for the Southern Nassau and Captree CBCs: The species total for Captree was 110 (not 109, as stated). Bob Grover's and Nick Laviola's Eurasian Wigeon was on Santapogue Creek, on the West Babylon-Lindenhurst line (not Babylon-West Islip, as stated). Sy Schiff's and Joe Giunta's count-week Lapland Longspur was for Southern Nassau (not for Captree, as stated). Shai Mitra Editor, The Kingbird ________________________________________ From: Shaibal Mitra Sent: Monday, January 04, 2010 6:20 PM To: NYSBIRDS (NYSBIRDS-L@cornell.edu) Subject: Long Island CBCs: Southern Nassau County and Captree Hi everyone, The Southern Nassau County Christmas Bird Count was conducted on Saturday, 2 January 2010, by 49+ participants. This represents the 70th time this CBC has been held since its inception in 1932 (there were several years with no count during the 1930s and 1940s). References to “recent” maxima, minima, and averages below refer to the last 20 years. In all, 121 species were recorded (plus two additional distinctive subspecies), a total well below the recent average of 128 species. Brisk northwesterly winds and snow showers impeded detection, and many participants expressed the perception that landbird densities have been generally low around Long Island this season (e.g., even on counts held under better conditions). The weather was even worse for the nearby Captree CBC on Sunday, and the notation “see NYCA” indicates some of the many instances of congruence between the two counts. Among the many highlights were: the count’s second ever “Richardson’s” Cackling Goose, in Baldwin (see NYCA); the fifth ever occurrence of Tundra Swan, with two in Massapequa and one in Five Towns (see NYCA); “Eurasian” Green-winged Teal in Baldwin (the 14th NYSN CBC featuring this taxon); 47 Ring-necked Ducks, all in Massapequa, a new recent maximum; 254 Common Eiders along the ocean front, shattering the previous max of 115 from 2006; 90 Common Mergansers in five territories,for a new recent maximum (see NYCA); 178 Double-crested Cormorants, exceeding the previous max of 98 from 2001; a new max of 23 Peregrine Falcons, spread across all nine territories, with duplications avoided as carefully as possible; Tricolored Heron, by the Loop party; 2 American Bitterns at Tobay, plus one at Jones Beach; Long-billed Dowitcher in Five Towns; Iceland Gull at Jones Beach; Lesser Black-backed Gull at Hempstead; Razorbills at Jones Beach and Pt Lookou; a recent max of 5 Eastern Screech-Owls; 1045 American Robins, exceeding the previous max of 757, from just two years ago; an Orange-crowned Warbler at Tobay the count’s third ever Pine Warbler, at Jones Beach; four Saltmarsh Sparrows at Massapequa; 264 Common Grackles, obliterating the previous max of 80, from way back in Dec 1958; a Baltimore Oriole at John and Muriel Stahl’s feeders in Baldwin and a recent max of 1073 House Sparrows. Poor results were obtained for the following species: Wood Duck was missed for the fifth time in 20 years; Canvasback was missed for the third time in 20 years; 1 Ring-necked Pheasant was a recent minimum; Great Egret was missed for the fourth time in 20 years; American Kestrel was missed for the fourth time in 20 years (see NYCA); Short-eared Owl was missed for the fifth time in 20 years; 30 Blue Jays (see NYCA) Fish Crow was missed for the first time in 20 years (see NYCA); 1 Eastern Towhee was a recent minimum (see NYCA); and 1 Field Sparrow was a recent minimum (see NYCA). Obviously, we also missed a large number of the “toss-up” species that we expect to find in 33-67% of years. Species recorded during the count week, of which I am aware at present, include: Willet, Great Horned Owl, Chipping Sparrow, and Rusty Blackbird The Captree Christmas Bird Count (circle just east of Southern Nassau County's) was conducted on Sunday, 3 January, 2010, by 30+ participants. This represents the 48th consecutive year this count has been held since its inception in 1962. In all, 109 species were recorded (plus one additional distinctive subspecies), a total well below the count’s 20-year average of 116 species. The count was rescheduled from 20 Dec because of a blizzard that dumped two feet of snow, but the weather yesterday was also appalling: average wind speeds of 24 mph (max gusts of 48 mph), a high temperature of 22 F, and frequent snow squalls. Given the circumstances, I think the results were quite impressive. Highlights included: 7 Greater White-fronted Geese at Belmont 1 Cackling Goose at Belmont 1 Tundra Swan at Connetquot 8 Wood Ducks at Belmont 1 Eurasian Wigeon in the Babylon-West Islip area 3 Common Eider on the ocean front 116 Common Mergansers, obliterating the previous max of 22, from 1995 (a consequence of rescheduling the count two weeks later) 2 Virginia Rails in the West Sayville area 1 Killdeer in Bay Shore 1 Iceland Gull in the Babylon-West Islip area 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull in Bay Shore 1 Great Horned Owl by the North party 12 Tree Swallows in the Oak Beach-Cedar Beach area 29 American Pipits 1 Pine Warbler at Connetquot 2 Chipping Sparrows at Heckscher Poor results were recorded for the following species: 3 Canvasback 55 Greater Scaup (often thousands in Great South Bay) 0 American Kestrel 19 Blue Jay 0 Fish Crow (306 last year!) 28 Carolina Wren 2 Gray Catbird 3 Eastern Towhee 3 Field Sparrow 0 Brown-headed Cowbird Species recorded during the count week, of which I am aware at present, include: Monk Parakeet, Fish Crow, Lapland Longspur, and Rusty Blackbird We wish to express our sincere thanks to the many people whose heroic efforts under dismal conditions added another chapter to these long-standing citizen-science projects. Shai Mitra & Patricia Lindsay Bay Shore Think green before you print this email. -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES Archives: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
