[nysbirds-l] Montauk CBC Results (Suffolk Co.)
The 94th Montauk Christmas Bird Count was conducted on Saturday, December 16th. This year marks the 103rd anniversary of the first Montauk Count, which took place in 1920. Forty-six participants in five areas counted *134 species* on the count day. This represents our highest total over the last ten years. Conditions were relatively mild for this count, with temperatures ranging up to 55 F and maximum winds at around 15 kts. Species highlights included the first count records of *Rufous Hummingbird *in Napeague (visiting an inaccessible feeder), *Black-throated Blue Warbler *on Gardiners Island, and *Tufted Duck *(continuing) in Lake West. Though a count-week only bird, the first count record of *Magnificent Frigatebird* was seen at Camp Hero during Monday's storm. Other interesting species included *King Eider* (Point South), *Dovekie* (Point North, Point South), *American Bittern* (Point North), *Clay-colored Sparrow* (Point South, Napeague), *Yellow-breasted Chat* (Point South, Lake West), and *Northern Parula* (Lake West). Many new high counts were set. The most notable was likely *Razorbill *for the second year in a row, with an astonishing *3,060*. Others include *Wood Duck* (13), *Virginia Rail* (14), *Sanderling *(781), *Dunlin *(359), *Greater Yellowlegs* (16), *Double-crested Cormorant* (156), *Yellow-bellied Sapsucker* (41),* Hairy Woodpecker* (25), *Common Raven* (19), *Ruby-crowned Kinglet* (20), *Carolina Wren* (377), *Hermit Thrush* (94), *American Robin* (4083), *Swamp Sparrow* (69) and *Orange-crowned Warbler* (10). It seems that most of these highs are attributable to the mild weather preceding the count. Though not a high count, 2,915 Bonaparte's Gull continued a recent rebound in numbers for the species. Misses were few, but included Common Merganser (likely absent due to ample open water to the north) and Red-breasted Nuthatch (a very poor year region-wide). Only a single Brown Creeper was seen. Our deepest thanks to Frank Quevedo and the South Fork Natural History Museum for hosting the compilation and providing dinner and to all participants for joining us and to the area leaders for organizing coverage. For those interested, the 2024 count will take place on *Saturday, December 14, 2023*. Co-Compilers Brent Bomkamp Angus Wilson -- (copy & paste any URL below, then modify any text "_DOT_" to a period ".") NYSbirds-L List Info: NortheastBirding_DOT_com/NYSbirdsWELCOME_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/NYSbirdsRULES_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave_DOT_htm ARCHIVES: 1) mail-archive_DOT_com/nysbirds-l@cornell_DOT_edu/maillist_DOT_html 2) surfbirds_DOT_com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) birding_DOT_aba_DOT_org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: ebird_DOT_org/content/ebird/ --
[nysbirds-l] Montauk CBC Results (Suffolk Co.) - 12/18/21
The 92nd Montauk Christmas Bird Count was conducted on Saturday, December 18. Forty-seven participants in five territories counted 125 species on count day, with three more in the count week. Temperatures on count day ranged from 39 to 45°F with periods of light showers. Lakes and streams were free of ice and there was no snow cover. Winds were ENE from 10-15 kts, which built up a decent swell on the ocean and bays but left sheltered inland areas pleasant. Like last year, a fully remote yet enjoyable Zoom compilation was conducted the Tuesday after the count. Though the species total was above our ten-year average, highlights were modest compared to past years: - WESTERN KINGBIRD, 7th count record and second in two years. Found by Mike McBrien across West Lake Drive from Star Island in Montauk. Enjoyed by many participants both Saturday and Sunday. - BLACK-HEADED GULL, 13th count record. Found by Angus Wilson on Cartwright Shoal south of Gardiners Island. - Turkey Vulture, 3rd count record. Spotted by two teams in Montauk. - Great Egret, 7th count record. Spotted by three team in Montauk. Other notable species include an American Kestrel, a House Wren, and three Tree Swallows on Gardiners Island; five Lesser Black-backed Gulls and a possible Common Murre in Lake West; Wood Duck, American Woodcock, Wilson’s Snipe, and Eastern Phoebe in Napeague; and Pine Warbler in Point North. King Eider, Laughing Gull, and Iceland Gull were recorded in the count week. Nine Black-crowned Night-Herons, recorded on Gardiners Island and in Accabonac, was just the second species record in ten years. Species that are unusual elsewhere on Long Island in winter but expected on the Montauk CBC include Rough-legged Hawk (one on Gardiners Island) and Yellow-breasted Chat (singles in Accabonac and Lake West). All-time high counts were recorded for seven species—a good result. These were: - Bald Eagle, 37 - Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, 30 - Red-bellied Woodpecker, 96 - Carolina Wren, 324 - Gray Catbird, 117 - Fox Sparrow, 62 - White-throated Sparrow, 1164 The Bald Eagle count, most of which were recorded on Gardiners Island, is simply unprecedented for Long Island and is a testament to the burgeoning local breeding population. The all-time high count for Common Raven (8) was tied; the species was first recorded in 2016. Seven Snowy Owls was the second-highest total, only surpassed by 11 in the invasion year of 2013. Ninety-one Canvasback was the highest total since 1998 for this declining species. Low counts included the second-ever miss of Bonaparte’s Gull, a single Great Cormorant, and a marked lack of sea-ducks off Montauk. Counters noted that the sea-duck numbers were among the poorest ever seen, with a mere 232 Surf Scoter and 39 Common Eider recorded. The total for Common Eider is shocking given the species’ major increases on Long Island for the past several years. The 93rd Montauk CBC will take place on Saturday, December 17, 2022. Brent Bomkamp and Angus Wilson, co-compilers. -- 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/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/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/ --
[nysbirds-l] Montauk CBC Results
The 2017 Montauk CBC (the 88th since the first count in 1920) took place on Saturday 16 Dec and was yet again accompanied by a winter weather advisory, ugh! The snowfall ended around midnight on the 15th leaving 1-4 inches on the ground. Temperatures rose during the day from a crisp predawn 25F to a more comfortable 39F at dusk. Not surprisingly most bodies of freshwater within the count circle were either partially or entirely frozen. For the human counters the wind provided the biggest challenge, blowing across Long Island Sound from the WNW for much of the day, sometimes gusting to more than 20 mph. Not surprisingly there were lots of red cheeks and watery eyes at the compilation. Luckily the wind had dropped sufficiently by mid day for a party to make the bumpy crossing to Gardiner’s Island allowing an abbreviated survey of this important territory, although as it turned out the freshwater ponds were also frozen and essentially devoid of the needed waterfowl. Nonetheless the forty-one participants tallied a very respectable total of 122 species plus two distinctive subspecies, with at least one additional species (Common Merganser) recorded during count week. A total of 27,137 individual birds were logged. Highlights included a PINK-FOOTED GOOSE at Montauk Downs golf course (2nd record for count), 2 KING EIDER, 1 RING-NECKED PHEASANT, 1 RED-NECKED GREBE, 2 GREAT EGRET, 3 BALD EAGLE, 3 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, 2 VIRGINIA RAIL, 4 WILSON’S SNIPE, 4 AMERICAN WOODCOCK, 2 ICELAND GULL, 1 GLAUCOUS GULL, 1 LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL, 1 BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE, 15 EASTERN SCREECH OWL, 2 GREAT HORNED OWL, 4 SNOWY OWL, 1 NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL, 3 FISH CROW, 1 COMMON RAVEN (2nd for count), 1 TREE SWALLOW (1st since 2005), 33 GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET, 1 ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, 6 PALM WARBLER, 1 NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH (Lake Montauk shore, 3rd for count), 1 COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, 1 YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT (Kirk Park), 4 CHIPPING SPARROW, 1 GRASSHOPPER SPARROW (Hither Hills SP Camp Ground, 4th for count), 1 LAPLAND LONGSPUR (1st since 2007), and 31 EASTERN MEADOWLARK. We also added one new taxon to the already lengthy list, with a winter adult male AUDUBON’S (YELLOW-RUMPED) WARBLER in a stand of pines within the main Napeague marsh. This regional rarity was discovered by Derek Rogers on 2 Dec and refound by Derek and Pete Morris on count day. Painful misses included several species of freshwater ducks (wigeon, anybody?), Short-eared Owl, American Pipit, Brown Creeper and Purple Finch. Our warmest thanks to the brave participants for being out in the field with us, the Suffolk County Park, Gardiner’s Island and Nature Conservancy staff who enabled us to survey important areas and to Frank Quevedo and the South Fork Museum of Natural History (SoFo) for hosting a splendid compilation dinner. Next year’s count will be held on Saturday 15 Dec 2018, please mark your calendars. As Uncle Sam might say - THE MONTAUK COUNT NEEDS YOU! Angus Wilson and Karen Rubenstein, Co-compilers -- 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/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/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/ --
[nysbirds-l] Montauk CBC Results Summary
The Montauk CBC took place on Saturday (17 Dec 2016). Early counters faced difficult conditions with low temperatures and a couple of inches of snow. This switched to heavy rain around daybreak that continued through the morning. Teams working on foot were first frozen then drenched. Ugh! Fortunately, the weather improved considerably during the afternoon becoming much warmer and drier, although some places remained shrouded in mist. In the late afternoon shafts of sunlight broke through the dark clouds and bathed the landscape in gold. All told, the count tallied a very respectable 118 species, with two additional (count week) species, Short-eared Owl and Greater White-fronted Goose found on Friday and Sunday, respectively. Highlights on count day included 34 Razorbills (scarce so far this winter), single Snowy and Saw-whet owls, American Kestrel, Eastern Phoebe, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-breasted Chat and Rusty Blackbird. One new species was added, a Common Raven on Gardiner's Island, bringing the count list to 229 species. In light of the remarkable expansion of ravens throughout New York State, this only seemed a matter of time. We also scored a new high count for American Bittern of two, with lone individuals skulking in marshes along the edges of Accabonac and Napeague Harbors. Three Virginia Rails were located, two at Big Reed Pond in Montauk and one off Landing Lane in Accabonac. Misses included a number of ducks. King Eider and Harlequin Duck were not found despite good numbers of eider and scoter in the waters surrounding Montauk Point and freshwater species were mostly displaced onto the ocean by the freeze. A small party managed to visit Gardiner's Island in the late afternoon but found the main freshwater pond entirely frozen. The pond normally hosts a variety of waterfowl, often species not found elsewhere, but on count day the pond was essentially birdless. Winter finches were largely absent with no sightings of crossbills, redpolls or siskins but a handful of Purple Finch were found. So much for the Evening Grosbeaks many of us had been dreaming of. Less fanciful possibilities, Black-legged Kittiwake, Great Yellowlegs, Eastern Bluebird and White-crowned Sparrow also went unseen. An unusual number of Baltimore Orioles have lingered on Long Island this fall, some into December, but none were found during the count, perhaps also victims of the vicious cold snap in the week leading up to the count. Our thanks to everyone who joined us in the field regardless of the grim conditions. It was also gratifying that so many counters were able to stop in at Felicia's Restaurant in Amagansett after dark to share news of the day and enjoy a warming meal. Requests to restore the end of day compilation were duly noted and we will try to make this happen next year. Speaking of which, the next year’s Montauk CBC will take place on Saturday 16 December 2017. We have an abundance of wonderful territory and welcome eager counters. Additional reminders will go out closer to the date. Karen Rubinstein & Angus Wilson Co-Compilers, Montauk CBC -- 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/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/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/ --
