Hello, tweeters,

The final results are in for the Sequim-Dungeness CBC, held 12/20/04.
We had a record number of species for our count, at 147, and a record
number of individuals, at 72,815. Clearly mild weather before and
during the count helped keep bird numbers very high, as we set count
records for 25 species.

No West Nile Virus here - species at or near record highs included
crows, Raven, Black-capped and Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Bushtit,
Brown Creeper, Robin, Orange-crowned Warbler, and Purple Finch. We had
good numbers of wintering sparrows, with new count records of Savannah,
White-crowned and Golden-crowned Sparrows, plus Spotted Towhees. It
was a great year for dabbling ducks, with good counts particularly of
Gadwalls, N. Shovelers, and wigeon. We had a record 5 Pygmy-Owls, seen
by 4 different parties, and high numbers of accipiters and Red-tailed
Hawks. Our boat party of Mike Crim, Bruce LaBar, Charlie Wright, and
Vivian Gross far surpassed our previous records for Pacific Loons
(484), Long-tailed Ducks (1804), and Ancient Murrelets (2857!). Not
surprisingly, species that do well with humans continue to thrive, with
substantial increases of Canada Geese, Rock Pigeons, Cal. Quail, and
House Sparrows. We added three new species to our count, all of whom
should be basking at more southerly latitudes: Turkey Vulture, Barn
Swallow, and Yellow-headed Blackbird.

Our ten most abundant species, from most to least abundant: Am. Wigeon,
Am. Robin, Mallard, Starling, Dunlin, Ancient Murrelet, large
pink-legged gulls, N. Pintail, Bufflehead, and Brewer's Blackbird.

Only a few species showed a downward trend this year. We had the
lowest number of Merlins (3) since 1993, the lowest number of Mew Gulls
(399) since 1994, and the lowest number of Dippers (4) since 1999.
Sadly, the extirpation of Meadowlarks continues around Sequim, both as
a breeder and a wintering species, as we only saw 6 on the count.
Houses and WalMarts have taken over the Sequim prairie...

Hope you all have a happy New Year!

Bob Boekelheide
Sequim