Greetings All, On Saturday, December 28, 2013 the third annual Ulster/Dutchess (NYUD) Christmas Bird Count was conducted under hospitable conditions if not the abundant sun-filled day promised. Temperatures ranged from a low of 25 degrees at our 4:00 am nocturnal effort start time to 45 degrees at mid-day. The Hudson River was free of ice but tidal back water areas associated with the river like the Kingston Point Lagoon and North Tivoli Bay were frozen. Fast moving streams were clear of ice and the Esopus Creek was almost completely open. Most count circle ponds were frozen. There was little if any snow cover reported and limited to well shaded and/or protected areas. Wind conditions varied in strength and duration dependent on location within the circle and several field parties had considerably different experiences. 15,748 individuals representing 78 species (plus three count week species) were tallied by 51 participants in 14 field parties and five feeder watchers during the twelve and a half hour count. Both individuals and species numbers serve as the lowest in the brief history of our count. The low individuals total can be attributed to our lack of "number-padding" blackbird flocks and a Canada Goose total less than half last year's number. New high counts were set for 15 species including 6 Merlins, 32 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, 2364 American Robins, 529 Cedar Waxwings, 231 Eastern Bluebirds, 54 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 14 Rusty Blackbirds, 5 white-crowned Sparrows, and 2 Eastern Towhee. Canvasback, Red-breasted Merganser, Peregrine Falcon, Fish Crow, and Snow Bunting were new additions to our count plus three Northern Bobwhite who's origins are undetermined at best but noted non-the-less. A count week Snowy Owl was as close as we could come during this incursion. Other birds of interest included 2 Long-tailed Ducks, 1 Double-crested Cormorant, 36 Black Vultures, 4 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 2 Field Sparrows, and 5 Purple Finches. No "big" misses this year but both Turkey Vulture and American Kestrel had been observed on the two previous counts. Attached is the complete breakdown by sector of the day's efforts, please note shaded columns identify Dutchess/Columbia Counties sectors and white identifies Ulster sectors. Following our day in the field, 33 folks gathered in Kingston for a well-attended post count compilation and meal and all had a very pleasant time (even Frank Murphy). Thank you to Charlotte Adamis, Donna Seymour, Wendy Tocci, Jessica Prockup, Tracey Patsch, Amy Fradon, Kathie Mock, Frank Murphy, Lin Fagan, Eileen Cunningham, and Kyla Haber for all the refreshments. Last but not least a special Thank You as always to Steve Chorvas for inputting data and all his guidance and experience in the sheparding of a Christmas Bird Count. MARK YOUR CALENDAR NOW: 4TH ANNUAL NYUD CBC 12/27/14 Respectfully submitted, Peter Schoenberger and Mark DeDea co-compilers NYUD CBC Thanks to all those who participated (listed below) Sector A Bob Miller (sector leader), Vanessa Lane, Gerhard Patsch, Tracey Patsch, Tom Crepet, Jane Vecchione, and Wes Finger Sector B Steve Chorvas (sector leader), Alan Beebe, Eileen Cunningham, and Doreen Beebe (fw) Sector C Allan Bowdery (sector leader), Gregory Esch, George Rodenhausen, and Roxie Newberry Sector D Peter Schoenberger (sector leader), Kathie Mock, and Christina Baal Sector E (1) Steve Schuyler (sector leader), Peter Schuyler, (2) Jeff Nerp, Glen Van Gorden, and Ryan Nerp Sector F Lin Fagan (sector leader), David Arner, Lynn Bowdery, Maeve Maurer, and Bob DeDea (fw) Sector G Jessica Prockup (sector leader), Deb Ferguson, Frank Murphy, Mary and George Moxham, and Erik Kiviat Sector H (2) Jim Closs (sector leader), Barbara Butler, Roberta Dapson, Mona Payton, Barbara Mansell, Liz Martens, (1) Adrienne Popko , Annatje Gilbert (fw), Susan and Jerry Gilnack (fw) Sector I Mark DeDea (sector leader), Charlotte Adamis, Donna and Charles Seymour Sector J Rodney Johnson (sector leader), Wendy Tocci, and Deb Kral -- 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/ --
NYUD_CBC_Summary_2013.doc
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