I conducted the Mountain Birdwatch survey of Whiteface Mountain on June 20, 2013. The sky was clear with calm winds and the temperature ranged from 39 to 44 degrees (chilly!). Here are the 6 point count tallies for each species:
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - 6 (2, 1, 1, 0, 0, 2) Black-capped Chickadee - 0 Boreal Chickadee - 0 Winter Wren - 13 (2, 2, 2, 3, 2, 2) Bicknell's Thrush - 8 (2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 0) Swainson's Thrush - 15 (2, 2, 2, 4, 3, 2) Hermit Thrush - 0 Blackpoll Warbler - 4 (1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0) White-throated Sparrow - 16 (3, 3, 3, 3, 1, 3) Fox Sparrow - 0 Red Squirrel - 0 Additional non-surveyed species heard during point counts: Black-backed Woodpecker Red-breasted Nuthatch Ruby-crowned Kinglet American Robin - at every point! Nashville Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler - point 6 Dark-eyed Junco Given all the discussion about the missing birds this year and the "quiet" dawn chorus, I thought it might be interesting to compare this year's results to last year's on Whiteface: Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - 6 in 2013, and 7 in 2012 (-14%) Black-capped Chickadee - 0 in 2013, and 0 in 2012 Boreal Chickadee - 0 in 2013, and 0 in 2012 Winter Wren - 13 in 2013, and 11 in 2012 (+18%) Bicknell's Thrush - 8 in 2013, and 9 in 2012 (-11%) Swainson's Thrush - 15 in 2013, and 18 in 2012 (-17%) Hermit Thrush - 0 in 2013, and 0 in 2012 Blackpoll Warbler - 4 in 2013, and 8 in 2012 (-50%) White-throated Sparrow - 16 in 2013, and 17 in 2012 (-6%) Fox Sparrow - 0 in 2013, and 2 in 2012 (actually one bird heard at 2 points) (-100%) Red Squirrel - 0 in 2013, and 0 in 2012 The only increase from last year's tallies was for Winter Wren, otherwise, it was all decreases. The Fox Sparrow singing through the breeding season on Whiteface Mountain in 2012 was a first for NY. I was not surprised by the 50% decline in Blackpoll Warbler tallies - it is obvious on all my trips up Whiteface this season that the number of Blackpoll Warblers is way down. The sunrise was spectacular during the survey! Joan Collins Long Lake, NY -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES 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://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
