Subject: [Tweeters] Sequim-Dungeness CBC results
Date: Jan 4 23:35:11 2006
From: bboek at olympus.net - bboek at olympus.net


Hello, Tweets,

The final results are in for the Sequim-Dungeness CBC, held on Dec. 19,
2005. Count day started really awful, with strong gusty winds and
occasional showers from midnight until early afternoon. Our usual
offshore boat could not launch and pre-dawn owling was hopeless. Wind
gusts peaked at over 60 mph at the Dungeness Spit lighthouse, but our
incredibly stalwart spit walkers still made the journey to the tip.
Despite horrible conditions, 98 counters and 33 feeder watchers turned
out for a surprisingly successful count, able to track down nearly all
our target species but not many more.

The final species total was 142, with total individuals numbering
70,537. Far and away the most abundant species were dabbling ducks,
apparently concentrated at coastal marshes and bays by frozen
freshwater ponds during the week before and by howling winds on count
day. Mallards, wigeons, and pintails together comprised over 45% of
the total birds we counted. Most other species numbered well below
long-term averages, particularly diving ducks, loons, grebes, alcids,
and anything else that sits on the water. Purple Finches, House
Finches, and Pine Siskins numbered the lowest since the last lean finch
year of 1994. Surprisingly, American Goldfinches were relatively
abundant, with their second highest count in the last 30 years. Go
figure!

Snowy Owls numbered 4 on Dungeness Spit, but perhaps the best
observation was a fifth Snowy Owl in the Olympic foothills south of
Sequim where it was first seen sitting in a dirt road, then it flew
into a nearby tree and was mobbed by Gray Jays. Other noteworthy
observations included 2 Canvasbacks, 1 Ruddy Duck, 2 Blue Grouse, 1
Rough-legged Hawk, 2 Marbled Godwits, 3 Anna's Hummers at feeders, 1
Barn Swallow, and 3 White-throated Sparrows. We saw less than 10
individuals of 40 different species - in addition to the ones listed
above, they included single sightings of Western Sandpiper, Ring-billed
Gull, Herring Gull, W. Screech Owl, N. Pygmy-Owl, N. Shrike, Am. Pipit,
Orange-crowned Warbler, Swamp Sparrow, and W. Meadowlark. Clearly the
species count could have been much lower were it not for our great
observers - thanks to you all!

Bob Boekelheide
Sequim