Christmas Bird Count (Lakewood) December 30, 2011
Report | Photos | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2011 Christmas Bird Count Results – Friday, December 30, 2011
Compiler: Nancy Howell
nhowell@cmnh.org
Middleburg Hts. OH 44130-6253
440-891-1710
The
The weather was an oddity as well with the day was just too …
uh, “nice”. When
one thinks of a Christmas Count one might think cold
temperatures and at least a little snow, not this year.
Temperatures were in the high 30’s to mid 40’s, mostly cloudy,
the sun peeped out periodically and then there were periodic
drizzles to light showers. All water;
Here is a rundown of the good … the bad … and the “ugly” of this
year’s count. Some of more noteworthy species are in
bold and count week
(cw)
are in
bold italics.
Below is the list of species and numbers.
How the groups doing the
Common Loon and Horned Grebe were nice finds (thank goodness) on
Diurnal raptors did better on our list with all 3 falcons species
one expects to find in the area at this time of year. Cleveland
Hopkins airport was a mini bonanza of raptors with many Red-tailed
Hawks, several American Kestrels a single Rough-legged Hawk (nice)
AND a single Snowy Owl (whoo-hoo).
Other owls were in short supply with Screech Owl being the
only other owl. Where were you Great Horned and Barred Owls??
Despite some owling time none of the larger owls were found.
Woodpeckers made appearances throughout the area and a single
Red-headed Woodpecker is nice. With the milder weather one would
think that Northern Flicker would be easier to find but numbers were
low.
Most of the remainder of the perching and or songbird numbers were
lower than most years. Even feeder birds were not as abundant
possibly not stressed due to the milder weather. Red-breasted
Nuthatch were tallied and it was not a huge year for them so that
was a nice find as were the single Winter Wren, a couple of
Golden-crowned Kinglets and two Ruby-crowned Kinglets!
A lack of persistent fruits on trees and shrubs seemed to decrease
the number of fruit eaters that are normally found, such as Eastern
Bluebird, American Robin and Cedar Waxwing.
Not a single warbler of any species was noted.
One of the few species whose numbers were up were European
Starlings (ugh).
Sparrows didn’t do too badly but we did miss any Eastern Towhee that
might have been around. A single Field Sparrow was a good addition
as were the two Swamp Sparrows which we sometimes do not get, and
the five White-crowned Sparrows. Some of the wetlands in our count
circle have been opened up with trails making it a bit easier to
find blackbirds. Red-winged Blackbirds did not disappoint us but we
did miss Common Grackle and Brown-headed Cowbird. Again with the
relatively mild winter thus far one would have thought more
blackbird sightings would have been reported but this was not the
case. Lastly, two Pine Siskins were a nice addition to the list and
a couple of Purple Finch were noted during count week.
A WELL DESERVED thank you to all who participated in the 2011
Christmas Bird Count.
Whether you went a field or stayed in the comfort of your home and
watched your feeders.
All tallies are appreciated and have been added.
Here are the 62 participants:
Jay Abercrombie, Nidia Arguedas, |
Christmas bird counters, Ray & Dave © Penny O'Connor Goldfinches at Lake Abrams © Chuck Slusarczyk Jr. White-breasted Nuthatch at Lake Abrams © Chuck Slusarczyk Jr. American Tree Sparrow at Lake Abrams © Chuck Slusarczyk Jr. Gray Squirrel (black variation) at Lake Abrams © Chuck Slusarczyk Jr. Snowy Owl at Hopkins © Chuck Slusarczyk Jr. CBC counters at Zoo © Mary Anne Romito The mild weather brought out birds we usually don't see on the CBC count. This Ostrich was not countable but fun to see.©Mary Anne Romito The Tiger was posing too. © Mary Anne Romito |