On Saturday, December 17th, 2022, by foot, car, and kayak,* 130 participants* conducted the annual *Brooklyn Christmas Bird Count (CBC)*. The count circle includes most of the borough of Brooklyn (Kings County), western Jamaica Bay, and western end of the Rockaway peninsula. While mostly sunny, dry, and mild, persistent winds throughout the day dulled expectations of a bountiful count.
Despite those end-of-day misgivings, counters tallied *133 species *and* 51,567 individuals,* exceeding the count’s 10-year averages of 125 species and 43,433 individuals. While many factors are at play, the above-average species diversity and sums of the last few years can be attributed to two efforts – 1) extensive coverage in the count circle, buoyed by the increased interest in birding since the start of the pandemic and fostered by the local birding community in Brooklyn, and 2) habitat creation and bird-friendly stewardship in newish parks such as Shirley Chisholm State Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park, and Bush Terminal Piers. Count compilers aim to embrace the urban birding experience and strive to place participants in all green and birdy spaces in the count circle. Counters found two new species for the count, which now totals 236. The long-staying vagrant *TOWNSEND’S WARBLER *continued in Fort Greene Park. A *NORTHERN PARULA* at the 26th Ward Wastewater Treatment Plant represented a number of lingering eastern warblers in Brooklyn, which include a *BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER* (3rd record for count), *WILSON’S WARBLER* (7th for count, seen 3 out of the last 4 years), as well as count week-only *OVENBIRD*, *NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH*, and *BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER*, which met its demise by way of a local Green-Wood Cemetery kestrel a few days before count day. Other notable rare species for the count, seen 3 or fewer times in the last 10 years, were found on the Rockaway coast and in Jamaica Bay. A 2nd ever count *DOVEKIE*, last seen in 1957, was spotted off Breezy Point in the midst of a record-high 115 *RAZORBILLS *and 225 distant large alcids not identified to species. Counters at Fort Tilden detected 4 *RED CROSSBILLS * (9th count record), the only rare irruptive finch seen on the count. At Jamaica Bay, counters discovered two good shorebirds, a *WESTERN SANDPIPER* – 8th ever for count, last seen in 1995, and 5th ever *LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER*, last seen in 2003. Among regular species, seen 8 or more times in the last 10 years, we established all-time high counts with 6 species. Aided by the favorable seabird movement conditions in the week leading up to the count, sea watchers saw 262 *RED-THROATED LOONS *(previous high of 154) and 506 *COMMON LOONS *(previous high of 193). Inland, 62 *RED-BELLIED WOODPECKERS* outnumbered the single digit counts of this species seen in the 1980s, firmly continuing its northward expansion. 541* FISH CROWS, *350 *COMMON GRACKLES *(3000+ seen the day after at Green-Wood Cemetery), and 9 *ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS *round out the other count-highs. Species misses include* GREAT-HORNED OWL, *seen earlier during the count week period but not on count day, *RING-NECKED PHEASANT*, decades ago totaling in the triple digits, but now nearly extirpated from the circle due to feral cats, *TREE SWALLOW, SNOWY OWL, *and *RING-NECKED DUCK,* all typically seen 5 out of the last 10 years. A *BLACK-HEADED GULL* and very late *SPOTTED SANDPIPER *made the count week period but unfortunately eluded counters on December 17th. I’d like to extend sincere gratitude to the Brooklyn Bird Club and the Prospect Park Alliance for sponsoring the count and hosting the count dinner and compilation at the Prospect Park Boathouse, which was our first in-person gathering since 2019. Thank you to the National Park Service for granting researcher permits for Gateway Recreation areas, NYS Parks for providing guidance at Shirley Chisholm State Park, and the NYS Department of Environmental Protection and Steve Nanz for coordinating access to two wastewater treatment plants that always hold special birds. Personal thanks to co-compiler Chris Laskowski and count team coordinator Bobbi Manian for their hard work in planning this count, and to all area leaders and participants for making it a highlight of the year. Next year’s count is planned for Saturday, December 16, 2023. Hope to see you there! Mike Yuan Brooklyn, NY -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm 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://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
