Hello All,
I just wanted to wrap up the year with an updated report on this years
Hopewell CBC. Firstly, thanks to all who participated - you all did a fine
job of making this count so successful.
The final tally of species is 114 (last year we had 109). We picked up
some extras like BOBWHITE, TUNDRA SWAN, FISH CROW, GREEN WINGED TEAL from
the other Curles Neck group. This number is the highest for species total in
the 68 years the count has been held. The number of individuals recorded was
33,843 which was markedly down from last years 50,664.
New High Counts were for ROSS'S GOOSE (4) AND CACKLING GOOSE (2). WINTER
WREN AND PALM WARBLER both equaled previous high counts with 36 and 7
respectively.
There were no low counts that were unprecedented, although AMERICAN ROBIN
numbers (233) were way down from last year (4,949). Similarly YELLOW-RUMPED
WARBLER numbers were kind of low with 55 recorded. Last year we had 346. I
think I wrote previously that there were less than 10 (I was wrong).
Other standout species included GREEN HERON (3rd ever for the count),
AMERICAN BITTERN (2nd ever for the count), GREATER YELLOWLEGs (also 2nd ever
for the count), and MERLIN (4th for the count). BALTIMORE ORIOLE (3) and
BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER (1) also put in appearances.
What have I been seeing in Richmond? Plenty of gulls to look at downtown.
LESSER-BLACK BACK GULLs seem to be regular with at least 2 or 3 birds around
- sometimes more. LAUGHING GULLS have dwindled to around 5 birds last
Friday. There were around 200 a few days earlier. A female RED-BREASTED
MERGANSER was also present last week, and the PEREGRINE continues to show
also.
This morning I took a walk through the Reedy Creek/42nd st. area of the
James River Park. Lots of seasonal birds, but the best for me was a male
NORTHERN HARRIER flying east over the Woodland Heights neighborhood. It is
the first time I have seen this species in the City.
My Richmond City list now stands at 157, and 126 for the year. And for the
record I finished the year with 101 species at Bandy Field.
Happy New Year everyone,
Arun Bose
Richmond, VA
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