The 66th annual Mohonk Lake/Ashokan Reservoir (NYML) Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC) was conducted on Saturday, December 19, 2015, under exceptionally mild and pleasant field conditions. Forty-eight participants in twelve field parties encountered a total of 13,953 individuals representing 78 species, plus two additional count week species. This year's total diversity was one shy of our record high 79 recorded in the years 2014, 2012, and 2007. Our total number of individuals was 1,708 fewer than last year's effort, and 2,139 short of our record high 16,092 set in 2008, but above the most recent ten-year average of 12,302 individuals/year.
Temperatures remained above freezing throughout the count day, ranging from an early morning low of 33 degrees (F) to an afternoon high of 38 (F) on the Lomontville Flats in Hurley. Winds were persistently strong overnight with gusts up to 35 mph, potentially hampering some of our efforts to detect owls. Clear sunny skies and calmer winds predominated early to mid-morning, followed by overcast skies during the afternoon period. No precipitation was recorded during the count day. Field conditions were characterized by a complete lack of snow cover and ground frost, and entirely open water throughout the count area. Night skies were mostly overcast, with minimal moonlight. This year's count did not record any new species, however, two species were encountered for only the second time in the count's sixty-six year history. Two Cackling Geese associating with a large flock of Canada Geese on Spring Lake off Lucas Avenue in Kingston were previously recorded for the first time last year from the same location, and one American Woodcock in full courtship display over a private field in Marbletown was recorded once previously on this count in 2011. Stone Ridge Pond on Mill Dam Road in Stone Ridge hosted two unusual species of waterfowl for this December count. Five American Wigeon represent a new high count and only the fourth occurrence for this species on the NYML CBC; and eight Gadwall tied our previous high count and represent our sixth overall occurrence. Two Wood Ducks on Maple Ridge Community property in Ulster Park were recorded for only the fifth time, one Northern Saw-whet Owl and two Merlin were recorded for the sixth time, and a lone Chipping Sparrow represented our seventh historical record. One Pied-billed Grebe was observed in the Wallkill River in New Paltz, two Red-headed Woodpeckers were present in their breeding swamp along Weston Road on the New Paltz/Esopus town line, and a Northern Shrike was observed in a field off Lenape Lane in New Paltz during the count week period, but was not detected on count day. New high counts were also established for Bald Eagle (18, eclipsing 10 in 2014), Cooper's Hawk (12, eclipsing 9 in 2014), Red-bellied Woodpecker (97, eclipsing 85 in 2014), Northern Flicker (24, eclipsing 22 in 1992), Tufted Titmouse (419, significantly exceeding 364 from 2014), American Pipit (41 in two flocks of 25 and 16 on the Lomontville cornfields, representing our seventh overall record and eclipsing our previous high count of 21 in 1994), and Fox Sparrow (7, including a remarkable six in one shrub, eclipsing the previous high count of 5 in 1989). Twenty-five Common Ravens tied last year's record high count. American Robins were well represented with 592 individuals, one Hermit Thrush was found, and blackbirds were modestly represented by 15 Red-winged Blackbirds, 4 Common Grackles, and 37 Brown-headed Cowbirds. We were not able to locate a lingering Gray Catbird, and we also did not detect any irruptive winter finches in the count area (siskins, redpolls, and grosbeaks) or half-hardy warblers, compared to 26 past occurrences of Yellow-Rumped Warbler on this count. Common Goldeneye (previously recorded in 31 years), Common Loon (18 prior years), Rough-legged Hawk (22 years), Horned Lark (33 years), and Ruby-crowned Kinglet (19 years) were also missed on this year's count. A complete table summarizing the count results by sector, with area descriptions and observer and effort information will be posted on the John Burroughs Natural History Society web site. Thanks to all of the participants for their fine effort in providing extensive coverage of the count circle, and special thanks to Mark DeDea for making the arrangements for our post-count compilation at the Olympic Diner in Kingston. Next year's Mohonk Lake/Ashokan Reservoir CBC is scheduled for Saturday, December 17, 2016. Steve M. Chorvas Mohonk Lake/Ashokan Reservoir CBC Compiler Saugerties, 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/[email protected]/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/ --
