Tweeters,

I've finished the tallies for the Sequim-Dungeness CBC, which occurred on
Dec. 16th in very nice weather, other than a strong band of showers that
passed through in early afternoon. Our group of 89 observers and 11 feeder
watchers ended up with a surprising record of 146 species and a low total of
52964 individuals.

The ten most abundant species were:
1) Robin (7264 individuals, significantly more than the previous record for
our count. Most of these concentrated along the east shore of Sequim Bay,
apparently feasting on Madrona berries)
2) American Wigeon (usually the high species for our count, but a relatively
low 5165 this year)
3) Mallard (4630, also low)
4) Large pink-legged gulls (3175, including Glaucous-winged Gull (953), GW X
Western Hybrids (2166), and Western Gulls (56))
5) Bufflehead (2416)
6) European Starling (2292)
7) Brewer's Blackbird (1755)
8) Pine Siskin (1726 - surprising total, since they have been very low this
fall, but showed up in several large flocks on count day)
9) N. Pintail (1364)
10) Golden-crowned Kinglet (1340)

Regularly-seen species setting record numbers for the 27-year history of our
count were Gadwall (83), Sharp-shinned Hawk (19), Cooper's Hawk (16), Merlin
(11), Peregrine Falcon (13), Calif. Quail (322), Mourning Dove (229),
Chestnut-backed Chickadee (360), Golden-crowned Kinglet, Robin, and
Orange-crowned Warbler (3). It seems particularly interesting that several
bird-eating raptor species were noticeably abundant, although multiple
counting by adjacent groups is a possibility, particularly for Peregrines.
Accipiters have been very numerous this fall around Sequim.

Conversely, many species tallied below average numbers compared with the
last 10 years of our count, such as Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Red-necked
Grebe, Western Grebe, Am. Wigeon, Mallard, Pintail, Surf Scoter,
White-winged Scoter, Common Goldeneye, Barrow's Goldeneye, Red-tailed Hawk,
Coot, Black-bellied Plover, Sanderling, Mew gull, Fox Sparrow, and Red
Crossbill. Has weather to the north been so mild that many of these species
have not moved south in typical numbers yet?

Equally interesting are species we totally missed this year, of those we've
usually seen in the past 10 years:
Bittern (count week), Sora, Band-tailed Pigeon, Hermit Thrush, and Evening
Grosbeak (non-existent this fall around Sequim).

As always, we had a few unusual birds:
Yellow-billed Loon - 1, near Protection Island, seen by our boat party.
Short-tailed Shearwaters - 22, first ever for our count, seen just offshore
of Dungeness Spit during a vigorous afternoon squall.
Blue-winged/Cinnamon Teal - 1 female at Graysmarsh, very close to where one
was present last year.
Rough-legged Hawk - 1 observed and photographed at Graysmarsh, the first for
our count in 6 years.
Lesser Yellowlegs - 1 at Graysmarsh - one had been seen during count week at
3 Crabs.
One medium-large shorebird, clearly not any of the other shorebirds seen on
the count, possibly a Ruff, but not seen quite well enough to totally
confirm ID.
Long-billed Dowitcher - 2 at 3 Crabs.
Red Phalarope - 579!!! Phalaropes were recorded by every shore party, with
a high count of 350 from Dungeness Spit alone.
Glaucous Gull - 1 immature.
Thick-billed Murre - 1 seen close to shore with Common Murres off Diamond
Point and well described by our boat party.
Long-eared Owl - 1 observed at Diamond Point roosting in some conifers in
the early a.m.
Yellow Warbler - 1 female-type closely observed by several people and
well-described at Dungeness.
White-throated Sparrow - 2, one of which has been at the Boekelheide feeder
since mid-October, the third year it has wintered.
Swamp Sparrow - 2 at Graysmarsh.
Pine Grosbeak - 1 seen in the same area as the big Robin concentration, the
first for our count since a count week bird in 1986.

Many, many thanks to our wonderful counters! We did well.

Bob Boekelheide
Sequim