The 6th annual Duck River Christmas bird count was held on Saturday,
December 23rd 2017, by 20 die-hard observers, and turned out to be a very
successful count in spite of less than ideal weather conditions. The final
species total appears to be 129, which is the highest ever reported in the
State by a good margin. (Solitary Sandpiper and Sedge Wren have now been
added as count day species).
Starting at 5 a.m. and ending at 6:30 p.m. 20 observers in 7 parties
covered 32 miles in 53 hours on foot, (4 hours of seawatch included) 140
miles in 25 hours by car, 1 mile in 1 hour by kayak, and 14 miles in 2
hours spent owling.
The sky was overcast all day, with heavy rain the previous day lasting
until 10 a.m. on count day, resulting in widespread flooding. Temperatures
ranged from 38 to 48 degrees, and winds were Northwest at 15 to 20 m.p.h.
Special Aspects:
The Duck River Count is getting a reputation for miserable weather each
year, and this year it did not disappoint. Steady rain through the previous
day and night, heavy at times, caused widespread flooding and didn't stop
until 10:00 on count day. The weather turned sharply colder, and a 15-20
m.p.h. wind made it a day on which most would rather stay inside.
Participation was down slightly, with only 20 observers braving the
weather. The boat route and it's party of 3 cancelled because of flooding
and high waves. Some extra seawatch was done at the Pump Station to help
cover for the boat, but the foggy, rainy conditions and high winds made
viewing difficult.
Diving Ducks were present in lower than usual numbers, with the usual
rafts at the Pump Station absent, resulting in new low counts for species
such as Ruddy Duck, Canvasback, Scaup, and Bufflehead.
A few factors that affected the high species total this year could be the
improved pre-count Scouting, (mostly by AlanTroyer) staking out such
rarities as Eurasian Wigeon and Harris's Sparrow, finding new locations for
Woodcock, Sedge Wren, Leconte's Sparrow, etc.
Also an experimental, improved communication system invented by Adam
Beachy to link all the field parties resulted in highly focused birding
through the late afternoon in search of missed species.
A total of 129 species were tallied on count day, breaking the previous
record (118 sp. in 2016) for this count by a whopping 11 species, and
establishing a new State high for any CBC ever. Previous high counts have
all been set by Reelfoot, including 124 species in 2015 and 123 species in
2016.
Common Loon was our only real miss, and that really isn't a bad miss
since there (probably) were none present at the time.
8 species were reported that are new for the count, 3 of them being
shorebirds. This count has never had good shorebird habitat on count day,
but the bigger shorebird list this year may be a result of good mudflats
remaining through 12-22-17, up to a day before the count.
Species all new for the count:
Eurasian Wigeon, Northern Goshawk, Short-Eared Owl, Spotted Sandpiper,
Solitary Sandpiper, Dunlin, Sedge Wren, Harris's Sparrow.
Here is a complete species list;
Greater White-fronted Goose 4931
Snow Goose 2628
Ross's Goose 154
Cackling Goose 134
Canada Goose 240
Wood Duck 206
Gadwall 20,992
American Wigeon 885
Eurasian Wigeon 1
American Black Duck 29
Mallard 77,954
Blue-winged Teal 1
Northern Shoveler 86
Northern Pintail 13,529
Green-wingedTeal 1,136
Canvasback 48
Redhead 7
Ring-necked Duck 2,230
Greater Scaup 2
Lesser Scaup 196
Bufflehead 592
Common Goldeneye 23
Hooded Merganser 60
Common Merganser 1
Red-breasted Merganser 36
Ruddy Duck 33
Northern Bobwhite 3
Wild Turkey 5
Pied-billed Grebe 23
Horned Grebe 28
Double-crested Cormorant 220
American White Pelican 239
Great Blue Heron 77
Great Egret 8
Black-crowned Night-heron 2
Black Vulture 45
Turkey Vulture 76
Golden Eagle 2
Northern Harrier 23
Sharp-shinned Hawk 2
Cooper's Hawk 3
Northern Goshawk 1
Bald Eagle 42
Red-shouldered Hawk 17
Red-tailed Hawk 42
Red-tailed Hawk, abietcola 1
American Coot 60
Sandhill Crane 2
Killdeer 113
Spotted Sandpiper 2
Solitary Sandpiper 1
Dunlin 6
Wilson's Snipe 28
American Woodcock 4
Bonaparte's Gull 411
Ring-billed Gull 1332
Herring Gull 10
Forster's Tern 1
Rock Pigeon 67
Eurasian Collared-dove 9
Mourning Dove 154
Barn Owl 1
Eastern Screech-owl 1
Great-horned Owl 5
Barred Owl 9
Short-Eared Owl 2
Belted Kingfisher 19
Red-headed woodpecker 36
Red-bellied woodpecker 85
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 22
Downy Woodpecker 60
Hairy woodpecker 26
Northern Flicker 84
Pileated woodpecker 17
American Kestrel 19
Merlin 1
Peregrine Falcon 2
Eastern Phoebe 47
Blue Jay 153
American Crow 322
Horned Lark 7
Carolina Chickadee 108
Tufted Titmouse 387
White-breasted Nuthatch 23
Brown Creeper 11
House Wren 6
Winter Wren 49
Sedge Wren 1
Marsh Wren 1
Carolina Wren 90
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 99
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 63
Eastern Bluebird 105
Hermit Thrush 12
American Robin 254
Brown Thrasher 34
Northern Mockingbird 32
European Starling 469
American Pipit 29
Cedar Waxwing 409
Palm Warbler 1
Pine Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 182
Eastern Towhee 53
Chipping Sparrow 201
Field Sparrow 170
Vesper Sparrow 9
Savannah Sparrow 143
Leconte's Sparrow 9
Fox Sparrow 38
Song Sparrow 919
Lincoln's Sparrow 2
Swamp Sparrow 1,230
White-throated Sparrow 999
White-crowned Sparrow 20
Harris's Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 437
Northern Cardinal 231
Red-winged Blackbird 6,300
Eastern Meadowlark 144
Rusty Blackbird 86
Brewer's Blackbird 4
Common Grackle 1,441
Brown-headed Cowbird 165
House Finch 6
Purple Finch 1
Pine Siskin 37
American Goldfinch 305
House Sparrow 11
Observer list: Jim Arnett, Adam Beachy, Evan Beachy, Jamin Beachy, Malon
Beachy, Nathan Beachy, Seth Beachy, Susanna Beachy, Victor Beachy, Graham
Gerdaman, David Kinsinger, James Shrock, Ruben Stoll (compiler) Victor
Stoll, Judith Swartz, Martha Swartz, Alan Troyer, Leona Troyer, Chloe
Walker, Nolan Walker.
Thanks to all those who braved the weather and showed up to make this a
successful count!
Ruben Stoll, Centerville TN.
