[obol] Sisters CBC Results
- From: Stephen Shunk <steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: COBOL <cobol@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2013 19:58:41 -0800
(Sorry for the premature "send" earlier)
Greetings, All,
Yesterday, under gorgeous winter skies, 28 volunteers joined the 15th
annual Sisters Christmas Bird Count. We finished the day with 68 species,
just below the 14-year average of 76 birds. The total number of birds
(11,709) came out well above the average of 5,800 birds, due to the swarms
of AMERICAN ROBINS in the agricultural fields of the Cloverdale region
(7,126 total against an average of 1,303; high was over 10,000 in 2004).
The only new birds for the count were two identifiable forms: a hybrid male
EURASIAN X AMERICAN WIGEON at a private irrigation pond in Cloverdale; and
a dark-morph "HARLAN'S" RED-TAILED HAWK at the eastern edge of the circle,
also in Cloverdale (east of Holmes Rd and north of Hwy 126).
As expected, woodpeckers made a good showing, with our 4th-ever THREE-TOED
WOODPECKER and several BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKERS in the Pole Creek burn
area, and above average counts for WHITE-HEADED WOODPECKER (16, avg 10, 2nd
highest ever) and NORTHERN FLICKER (84, avg 48, 3rd highest ever). In the
category of all-time (15-year) high counts were three recently expanding
species: 55 WILD TURKEY (avg 15, first counted in 2003);108 EURASIAN
COLLARED-DOVE (first counted in 2009); and 74 WESTERN SCRUB-JAY (avg 19,
first confirmed breeding in Sisters in 1998).
Raptors also made a good showing, with an all-time high for COOPER'S HAWK
(avg 2, prev high 5), and 2nd-highest-ever counts of RED-TAILED HAWK (59,
avg 40, high of 68 in 2004) and ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK (17, avg 6, high of 25 in
2002). We also had our 3rd highest count of AMERICAN KESTREL (12, avg 7)
and NORTHERN SHRIKE (3, avg 1).
Our biggest misses included MERLIN (2nd yr missed in 15), NORTHERN
PYGMY-OWL (3rd yr missed) and AMERICAN DIPPER (3rd yr missed). We also had
an extremely low count of 29 PINYON JAYS, against an average of 178, for
the second lowest tally ever of this enigmatic species.
Contact me directly for the master list or with any questions, and have a
great rest of the CBC season!
Steve Shunk
--
*Check out our new web site!*
*www.paradisebirding.com <http://www.paradisebirding.com/>*
Stephen Shunk
Paradise Birding
P.O. Box 547
Sisters, OR 97759
541-408-1753
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