Greetings,
The fourth annualUlster/Dutchess (NYUD) Christmas Bird Count was held on
Saturday, December 272014. This year’s count was conductedunder a favorable
setting with temperatures ranging from a low of 31 degrees atour 4:00 AM start
time to an afternoon high of 54 degrees. There was absolutelyno snow cover and
all bodies of water were free of any measurable ice in thecount circle. Clear
skies and a completelack of wind made nocturnal efforts quite hospitable.
These moderate conditions made for a moreenjoyable day in the field but did not
exactly translate into big numbers.
Our species total of 86 was slightly above our three year average of 84 but
our individual total droppedfor the fourth consecutive year to 14,233 birds
reported. An inexplicable late hunting season keptseveral attractive waterfowl
locations atypically void of ducks or withextremely anxious birds. Shots
wereheard all morning along the Hudson River. One field party witnessed
“nuisance control” ata golf course and another noted only five of the 49 ducks
observed were on thewater with the others hurriedly flying about Tivoli Bays.
Surprisingly low numbers of American Robinsand blackbird species also adversely
affected our totals. Mother Nature likely had a hand in this aswell without
any sense of urgency to move or even congregate species that mightgenerally pad
our numbers remained dispersed.
The lack of ice didallow for one Common Loon and six Horned Grebes (new
species to the NYUDcomposite) to remain on the far eastern portion of the
Ashokan Reservoir. In the Town of Saugerties another three newspecies were
added to the NYUD composite with a Northern Goshawk, 5 NorthernPintails, and an
Eastern Phoebe (presumably partially sustained by an insecthatch that was
observed in more than one sector). An Evening Grosbeak in the Town of
Rhinebeckand a Ring-necked Duck in the Town of Red Hook also joined the NYUD
compositethis year. The most unusual addition wasa Snowy Owl, not that it was
completely unexpected but the manner in which itcame to be part of this count;
a nonparticipant discovered the bird, a secondhand e-bird report was generated,
and then a conversation and cell phone image viaFacebook the following day to
confirm. Withamendments this year the NYUD composite now stands at 113 species
in it’s briefhistory.
Other interesting orunusual species included Fish Crows in Columbia County, a
Wood Duck in WestHurley, a woodcock/snipe species briefly observed in the Town
of Ulster, anOrange-crowned Warbler (associating with a lingering Ruby-crowned
Kinglet) inSleightsburg, and winter finches were represented by PineSiskins in
two sectors and two Purple Finches in Saugerties. With conditions as they
were, field partiesanticipated good sparrow results and although total numbers
were not impressivediversity was better than any previous count, with towhee,
Field, Chipping, andWhite-crowned tallied along with the regulars. Owling was
rewarding in all sectors that conducted a nocturnal effortincluding a “sweep”
of the three regulars in the Town of Rhinebeck and fiveEastern Screech Owls in
the greater Tivoli Bays area alone. A few trends seem to be developing as
ourcount matures. A burgeoning winter roostof Black Vultures on the Bard
College Campus swelled to 100 birds this year andMerlin has become our
“reliable” falcon species. Countweek species this year were Long-tailed Duck,
Iceland Gull (who has been inthis role before and yet to make count day), and a
late addition on the lastday of the count week by John Haas who briefly
observed, at close range, a maleBlack and White Warbler he found while visiting
Sleightsburg Spit in search ofthe aforementioned Orange-crowned Warbler.
Thank You to the 46 field observers and threefeeder-watchers who thoroughly
and productively covered our circle andespecially to Steve Chorvas who
continues to steward this fledgling count (andcorrect all my mistakes). Our
well attended post count compilation wasmanaged by my beautiful wife Kyla Haber
who again did most of the “heavylifting” and handled days of cooking and
baking, blown fuses, a clogged sink,and a 3:00 a.m. alarm with a smile. Thanks
also to all those who brought additional food and drink and addedto this
festive gathering.
Respectively submitted,
Mark DeDea
Co-compiler Ulster/Dutchess (NYUD) CBC
Save the date: 5th annual NYUD CBC Saturday,December 26th 2015
SECTOR “A” WEST SAUGERTIESBob Miller, Vanessa Lane, George Moxham, Mary Moxham,
Wes Finger (fw)
SECTOR “B”SAUGERTIES Steve Chorvas, Alan Beebe, Eileen Cunningham, Deb
Ferguson, Frank Murphy,Doreen Beebe (fw)
SECTOR “C”CHEVIOTGregory Esch, George Rodenhausen
SECTOR “D”KERLEY'S CORNERS PeterSchoenberger, Susan Fox Rogers, Christina Baal,
Erin Kelly
SECTOR “E”WOODSTOCKSteve Schuyler, Peter Schuyler, Bruce Nott, Dixon Onderdonk,
Ryan Nerp, GlenVan Gorden, Jeff Nerp
SECTOR “F”LAKE KATRINELin Fagan, Kathie Mock, Maeve Maurer, David Arner, Bob
DeDea (fw)
SECTOR “G”ANNADALE-ON-HUDSON JessProckup, Jim Prockup, Steve Bauer, Dan Porter
SECTOR “H”RED HOOK Jim Closs, Dave Grover, Roberta Dopson, Barbara Butler, Dot
Fleury, FredBaumgarten, Mona Payton
SECTOR “I”KINGSTON MarkDeDea, Donna Seymour, Annie Mardiney, Charlotte Adamis
SECTOR “J”RHINEBECKWendy Tocci, Thom Grady, David Hayes, Deb Kral, Rodney
Johnson
NYUD CBC Summary – December 27, 2014
Total
NYUD Christmas Bird Count
December 27, 2014 (4 / 115th)
A
B1
B2
C
D
E1
E2
F
G
H
I
J
3,829
Canada Goose
641
383
203
105
170
55
474
242
148
892
377
139
9
Mute Swan
6
2
1
1
Wood Duck
1
58
American Black Duck
11
5
1
2
13
3
14
8
1
420
Mallard
33
35
36
25
27
73
22
70
51
48
5
Northern Pintail *
5
1
Ring-necked Duck*
1
cw
Long-tailed Duck
cw
4
Bufflehead
1
3
57
Common Goldeneye
4
53
11
Hooded Merganser
2
2
5
2
96
Common Merganser
5
7
7
24
5
24
11
13
20
Wild Turkey
6
4
3
7
1
Common Loon
1
6
Horned Grebe
6
4
Great Blue Heron
2
1
1
103
Black Vulture
3
100
11
Bald Eagle
2A
2A
1
1A
1
2A1J
1A
3
Northern Harrier
2
1
8
Sharp-shinned Hawk
1
1
1
3
1
1
6
Cooper's Hawk
3
1
1
1
1
Northern Goshawk
1
10
Red-shouldered Hawk
1
1
1
2
3
2
100
Red-tailed Hawk
10
3
4
11
14
1
4
7
12
9
12
13
1
Woodcock/Snipe sp.
1
214
Ring-billed Gull
1
13
6
22
7
26
136
3
42
Herring Gull
7
33
2
cw
Iceland Gull *
cw
12
Great Black-backed Gull
1
11
1
Gull sp.
1
382
Rock Pigeon
40
2
51
62
98
57
1
10
61
284
Mourning Dove
18
3
50
20
53
33
26
19
14
16
23
9
13
Eastern Screech-Owl
2
1
1
5
3
1
9
Great Horned Owl
3
3
2
1
1
Snowy Owl *
1
5
Barred Owl
2
1
1
1
9
Belted Kingfisher
2
1
1
1
1
2
1
126
Red-bellied Woodpecker
9
9
6
14
9
11
4
14
13
17
8
12
13
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
5
149
Downy Woodpecker
7
18
10
9
8
30
3
15
8
18
16
7
48
Hairy Woodpecker
2
9
3
1
6
1
7
7
4
7
1
26
Northern Flicker
1
9
1
2
5
6
2
38
Pileated Woodpecker
4
1
4
8
5
1
9
4
2
2
Merlin *
1
1
2
Peregrine Falcon *
1
1
1
Eastern Phoebe *
1
463
Blue Jay
36
36
26
55
56
32
23
55
23
67
17
37
757
American Crow
61
32
14
40
130
20
24
97
25
51
33
230
4
Fish Crow *
4
13
Common Raven
3
6
1
2
1
62
Horned Lark
62
498
Black-capped Chickadee
54
63
35
56
20
63
15
37
59
44
38
14
387
Tufted Titmouse
43
36
23
47
21
40
22
37
40
25
28
25
14
Red-breasted Nuthatch
2
1
8
1
2
256
White-breasted Nuthatch
25
20
12
38
18
31
7
19
30
16
14
26
22
Brown Creeper
2
5
2
1
2
7
1
2
13
Winter Wren
1
5
1
1
4
1
84
Carolina Wren
15
13
6
2
4
7
5
3
6
17
6
24
Golden-crowned Kinglet
3
4
4
2
6
1
4
1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
1
303
Eastern Bluebird
29
14
4
17
24
38
10
29
10
67
17
44
5
Hermit Thrush
1
2
2
77
American Robin
18
2
29
2
3
2
16
2
3
55
Northern Mockingbird
7
6
1
11
2
8
4
4
8
4
1,675
European Starling
216
106
107
228
226
50
49
210
165
121
108
89
49
Cedar Waxwing
4
2
32
11
1
Snow Bunting
1
1
Orange-crowned Warbler *
1
7
Yellow-rumped Warbler
7
cw
Black-and-white Warbler*
cw
1
Eastern Towhee *
1
191
American Tree Sparrow
3
11
8
22
8
2
16
12
13
34
62
2
Chipping Sparrow *
2
3
Field Sparrow
1
1
1
6
Savannah Sparrow
4
2
110
Song Sparrow
18
21
8
12
1
1
2
2
27
18
12
Swamp Sparrow
1
2
1
6
2
322
White-throated Sparrow
62
32
14
21
18
45
10
5
21
22
42
30
5
White-crowned Sparrow
5
955
Dark-eyed Junco
131
57
47
59
64
242
19
85
26
64
39
122
226
Northern Cardinal
21
22
10
11
15
34
12
11
20
33
28
9
37
Red-winged Blackbird
6
1
30
35
Common Grackle
2
13
20
4
Brown-headed Cowbird
2
2
161
House Finch
18
11
3
7
39
1
17
7
30
11
17
2
Purple Finch
2
7
Pine Siskin
1
6
260
American Goldfinch
27
18
8
9
18
46
16
26
19
28
37
8
1
Evening Grosbeak
1
980
House Sparrow
28
21
164
93
95
8
117
183
63
52
142
14
14,233
Total Individuals
1,607
1,050
847
968
1,257
875
1,010
1,305
955
1,766
1,519
1,074
86
Total Species (+3 cw)
42
47
39
32
46
38
29
36
46
38
56
49
* unusual species cw =count week
Shaded
Columns: Dutchess County
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