Talbot Birders - and Friends -

 

Many people contributed long hours of fine work yesterday during the 2011 St
Michaels Christmas Count.    The results were tallied after the delicious
Pot-luck Dinner in the Social Hall of Christ Church in St. Michaels.  A full
summary will be provided at a later date, but to answer a few of the
questions of anxious participants and their neighbors, the results for four
species of interest are provided below.

 

Canada Geese - Most observers have noted that few geese seemed to be around
this region and that we would probably have a hard time defending our record
of 2010 when our Count of 70,400 was the highest in the nation for that
species.   Worriers were correct - the 2011 count turned up just 34,827 even
though it was a beautiful day for the counting.  The eight-year average
(2003-2010) was 45,100, so the 2011 numbers were down by about 23%.

 

American Robin - Some of us suspected this count would be a quite good one
for Robins, possibly suggesting a major role for the warm weather of this
fall.  The 2011 Count turned up 2487 Robins, with a large percentage of them
being recorded in the Oxford Sector.  The 8-year average for Robins is 810,
with the number being pretty consistent in recent years.  Hence, a tripling
of that number is somewhat exciting.

 

Mourning Dove - Hunters and birders both have been commenting about Doves
being is somewhat short supply this year.  The 2011 Count located and
reported 117 of these birds.  The eight year average was 395 and the number
has been pretty consistent.  One of our birders suggested that the 117
number may be the lowest for Mourning Doves in the history of the count.  It
was certainly the lowest for the period of 2003 to 2011, though the
miserable and snowy disrupted count of 2009 had turned up only 137.  The
weather conditions of yesterday were so nice that one could have defended
the position that numbers of Mourning Doves should have been as good as
those of Robins.

 

American Goldfinch -  Many of the folks of the region that enjoy feeding the
birds had noted that the Goldfinch supply seemed weak this fall.  That was
certainly confirmed by the 2011 Count, for only 52 Goldfinch were found.
The eight year average for this species is 253, which sure looks to me as if
we found only about one-fifth of the usual number of these birds.  (None
have been at my feeders since mid-October, so such numbers are not
inconsistent with what I have been seeing.  If only places like mine were
being observed, the 52 would seem like a large number indeed.)

 

          Overall it was a beautiful Count Day, and most results, except for
the waterfowl, were within the normal range.  Total species number as of
last evening was 98 which is pretty close to normal.  

 

          And for the late-arriving waterfowl, help may be on the way.
Outside my window on the waters of Leeds Creek new flocks have been arriving
all day.  At the moment the number is approximately 3000, whereas it was
only 600 last night and prior to that had been only in the range of 60 to
400 each night since late September.  (And just now another 500 geese
dropped down to join the flock on Leeds Creek.  Who knows what the evening
will bring.)

 

Les Roslund

Talbot Bird Club

Easton, MD


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