Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2001 23:30:03 EST Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Kurt Gaskill Subject: Fort Belvoir CBC Summary Comments: To: VA-BIRD@list.audubon.org MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Fort Belvoir CBC Summary The Fort Belvoir CBC took place December 31, 2000. The temperature range was 14-38 F with a slight breeze, clear skies in the morning becoming partly cloudy in the afternoon. Two large bodies of still water were partly frozen and the others were completely frozen; moving water was partly frozen. A total of 120 species were recorded in the count, nearly equaling the 10 year numerical average. The circle had 166 counters in the field in 54-57 parties, exceeding the historic high set in 1996. There were 9 feeder watchers, which set a new high count; a total of 175 volunteers participated, also a new high! The following summary is based upon data that will be submitted to National Audubon and is subject to change by reviewing authorities. A total of 15 high-count records were set. There were 43 species with tallies exceeding by 30% the 10-year average (unweighted by party hours). There were 11 species that set new 10-20 year historical count lows. There were 33 species that had unusually low counts, less than 50% of the 10-year average for species that are regular to the circle. Three unusual species were noted: Northern Goshawk (2nd occurrence in 20 years), Peregrine Falcon (1st in 20 years), and Lincoln's Sparrow (1st in 20 years). There was one count week (CW) species, Dunlin. As I described in the preliminary summary of the count, some species were in very low numbers, which may have been due to the extended cold weather and/or significant portions of water bodies being frozen. In the category of waterfowl, shorebirds and gulls (everything from loons to gulls except vultures, raptors, and game fowl such as Wild Turkey), a total of 22 species were 50% below the 10 year average count. Species that have occurred somewhat frequently in the last 10 years that were absent on the count were King Rail and Lesser Yellowlegs. Single representatives of the following species were noted: Mute Swan, Greater Yellowlegs, American Woodcock, Laughing Gull and Lesser Black-backed Gull. Interestingly, three species of waterfowl set new high-count records, Canada Goose - exceeding by over 50% the 10 year average - and Lesser Scaup and Red-breasted Merganser. With regard to the non-waterfowl species setting new high-count records, no single theme presents itself. For example some year round resident species that set new records such as Wild Turkey, Barred Owl, Red-bellied Woodpecker, White-breasted Nuthatch, Tufted Titmouse and Eastern Bluebird suggests the year 2000 was a great breeding year. And species that, for the most part, were autumn/winter migrants into our area such as Bald Eagle, E. Phoebe, Winter Wren, both kinglets, Pine Warbler and Song Sparrow show record numbers (or near-record for the case of Ruby-crowned Kinglet) perhaps because of an increased influx into our area due to extreme weather conditions north of the count circle or perhaps due to a good breeding year at other locations. At this point, let me touch upon the Bald Eagle numbers. This year, again to our delight, marked a significant increase in Bald Eagle sightings over the previous count year. As an aid to produce an accurate count, all eagle sightings after noon were ignored (otherwise nearly 100 would be added to the final tally!). I also adjusted counts assuming that birds that had a high probability of being double counted were double counted. Using this approach, the number of Bald Eagles reported here is 256. I am still considering changes to this result. I should note that the Red-bellied Woodpecker total, 526 birds, exceeds the all time North America record as reported in last year's American Birds (100th CBC edition). The totals for Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Song Sparrow and perhaps some other species will likely rank near the top for the continent. Finally, winter finches and allies (Red-breasted Nuthatch, Purple Finch, and Pine Siskin) were near historical lows. In addition I note the Brown Creeper tally set a new 20-year low with a count half of the 10-year average. Brown Creeper totals have been low for the last two counts in this circle; hopefully this possible trend is not significant. The following are the totals for the species and forms to be reported. (+) indicates 30% or more above 10-year average, (-) indicates 50% or more below 10-year average, (HC) is a new high-count record, and (US) is for an unusual species (those that have occurred very infrequently). Lastly, as mentioned above, the Bald Eagle numbers are still being refined. Common Loon 3 Pied-billed Grebe 2 (-) Horned Grebe 9 (+) DC Cormorant 2 (-) Great Blue Heron 180 Black-crowned Night-Heron 1 Black Vulture 61 (+) Turkey Vulture 148 (+) Snow Goose 24 Canada Goose 15,363 HC (+) Tundra Swan 275 Mute Swan 1 Wood Duck 21 (-) Gadwall 5 (-) 16-yr low Am. Wigeon 4 (-) 16-yr low Am. Black Duck 1,616 Mallard 3,068 No. Shoveler 2 (-) No. Pintail 8 (-) 10-yr low Am. Green-winged Teal 132 (-) Canvasback 825 Redhead 3 (-) Ring-necked Duck 486 (-) Greater Scaup 538 (+) Lesser Scaup 18,920 HC (+) Surf Scoter 4 White-winged Scoter 2 Long-tailed Duck 2 Common Goldeneye 6 (-) Bufflehead 223 (-) Hooded Merganser 167 Common Merganser 2,898 (+) merganser, sp. 937 Red-breased Merganser HC (+) Ruddy Duck 279 (-) Bald Eagle 256 HC (+) this number is still tentative, yet over 200 will be reported! Bald Eagle, adult 121 Bald Eagle, immature 135 No. Harrier 4 Sharp-shinned Hawk 19 Cooper's Hawk 5 No. Goshawk 1 US accipter, sp. 5 Red-shouldered Hawk 49 Red-tailed Hawk 100 (+) Am. Kestrel 8 Merlin 1 Peregrine Falcon 1 US Wild Turkey 9 HC (+) No. Bobwhite 1 (-) 20-yr low Am. Coot 3 (-) 10-yr low Killdeer 22 (-) 10-yr low Greater Yellowlegs 1 (-) Dunlin 2 CW (unusual for CW status!) Common Snipe 2 (-) 13-yr low Am. Woodcock 1 (-) 10-yr low Laughing Gull 1 (-) Bonaparte's Gull 8 Ring-billed Gull 4,570 Herring Gull 426 (-) Lesser Black-backed Gull 1 Great Black-backed Gull 140 (-) Rock Dove 264 Mourning Dove 909 E. Screech Owl 20 (+) missed historical high count record by 2 birds Great Horned Owl 15 Barred Owl 25 HC (+) new historical high count record by 1 bird Belted Kingfisher 38 Red-headed Woodpecker 5 Red-belllied Woodpecker 526 HC (+) exceeding the US record of 521 noted in American Birds (100th CBC edition) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 58 (+) Downy Woodpecker 339 (+) Hairy Woodpecker 65 No. Flicker 340 (+) Pileated Woodpecker 99 E. Phoebe 16 HC (+) Blue Jay 647 (+) Am. Crow 3,394 (+) Fish Crow 439 crow, sp. 2,082 Carolina Chickadee 1,220 Tufted Titmouse 1,126 HC (+) Red-breasted Nuthatch 3 (-) White-breasted Nuthatch 325 HC (+) Brown Creeper 26 (-) 20-yr low! Carolina Wren 552 House Wren 1 (-) Winter Wren 50 HC (+) Golden-crowned Kinglet 418 HC (+) Ruby-crowned Kinglet 133 (+) missed historical high count record by 2 E. Bluebird 517 HC (+) Hermit Thrush 115 (+) Am. Robin 898 (+) Gray Catbird 3 No. Mockingbird 192 Brown Thrasher 5 (+) Am. Pipit 25 (+) Cedar Waxwing 1,052 (+) E. Starling 6,838 (+) Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler 494 (+) Pine Warbler 7 HC (+) high count record set by 1 bird Palm Warbler 1 Common Yellowthroat 1 E. Towhee 63 (+) Am. Tree Sparrow 29 Chipping Sparrow 1 Field Sparrow 113 Savannah Sparrow 4 (-) Fox Sparrow 14 (+) Song Sparrow 1,349 HC (+) Lincoln's Sparrow 1 US Swamp Sparrow 174 (+) 2nd highest historical record in 20 years White-throated Sparrow 1,759 (+) 2nd highest historical record in 20 years White-crowned Sparrow 16 (+) Dark-eyed Junco 1,558 (+) No. Cardinal 833 (+) Red-winged Blackbird 589 (-) E. Meadowlark 10 Rusty Blackbird 1 (-) Common Grackle 642 (-) Brown-headed Cowbird 73 (-) 20-yr low blackbird, sp. 1,610 (this may balance the blackbird lows noted above) Purple Finch 6 (-) House Finch 519 Pine Siskin 4 (-) Am. Goldfinch 819 (+) Burger Kinglet 550 Kurt Gaskill Compiler, Fort Belvoir CBC ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================