Subject: [Tweeters] Clallam County Birdathon results
Date: May 25 23:10:08 2006
From: bboek at olympus.net - bboek at olympus.net


Dear Tweeters,

We've finished tallying the Clallam County Birdathon/International
Migratory Bird Count held on May 13, sponsored by Olympic Peninsula
Audubon Society and the Dungeness River Audubon Center. A total of
104 participants in 67 parties spent 310 party-hours birding in Clallam
County on May 13 - a great effort!

In total, we saw 28,596 birds of 188 species, the second best species
total ever for our spring count, second only to 193 species in 1999.
In general, salt water birds were mostly average or below average on
count day (comparing 13 years of similar data), whereas many landbirds,
particularly late spring migrants, numbered average or above average.
The fairly late date for the count this year may explain the pattern.

We had two main boat parties (one out of Sequim and one out of La
Push), two main mountain parties (one up the Dungeness watershed and
one to Hurricane Ridge, which was still mostly covered with snow), plus
parties counting the Strait of Juan de Fuca coast from Diamond Point to
Cape Flattery. Most parties counted in the eastern third of the county
around Sequim and Port Angeles.

Most abundant species within groups: (+ number counted)

Most abundant goose = Brant (349)
Most abundant dabbling duck = Mallard (441)
Most abundant diving duck = Surf Scoter (311)
Most abundant galliform = California Quail (402) -- record for this
count, continually increasing since the mid-90s.
Most abundant loon = Pacific Loon (67)
Most abundant grebe = Red-necked Grebe (34)
Most abundant tubenose = Sooty Shearwater (200)
Most abundant cormorant = Pelagic (462)
Most abundant heron = Great Blue Heron (79)
Most abundant raptor = Bald Eagle (262) -- record for this count; over
50 visible on count day just on the mudflats of Dungeness Bay and
Dungeness Spit
Most abundant accipiter = Cooper's Hawk (12)
Most abundant falcon = Peregrine (6)
Most abundant rail = Am. Coot (31)
Most abundant plover = Killdeer (70) (BB Plover next at 67)
Most abundant sandpiper = Western Sandpiper (237)
Most abundant gull = large pink-legged gull (4699) (includes
Glaucous-winged, Olympic, and unidentified large pink-legged gull)
Most abundant tern = Caspian (302) -- record for this count
Most abundant alcid = Common Murre (1564)
Most abundant pigeon = Band-tailed (323)
Most abundant owl = Barred Owl (8)
Most abundant swift = Vaux's (106)
Most abundant hummer = Rufous (301)
Most abundant woodpecker = N. Flicker (61)
Most abundant flycatcher = Pacific-slope (61)
Most abundant vireo = Hutton's (48)
Most abundant corvid = Crow (569)
Most abundant swallow = Violet-green (1027)
Most abundant chickadee = Chestnut-backed (242)
Most abundant wren = Winter Wren (84) -- well below average for this
count
Most abundant thrush = Am. Robin (1441)
Most abundant warbler = Orange-crowned (185) (Wilson's a distant
second at 127)
Most abundant sparrow = Song Sparrow (606)
Most abundant icterid = Red-winged Blackbird (475)
Most abundant finch = American Goldfinch (765)

Species well below long-term averages for our spring count (n = 13
years) =
Brandt's Cormorant, Ring-necked Pheasant, Dunlin, Marbled Murrelet,
Winter Wren, Pine Siskin.

Species well above long-term averages for our spring count =
Turkey Vulture, Gr. White-fronted Goose, Cackling Goose (11 at the
Waatch River), Wood Duck, N. Pintail, Gadwall (139, steadily increasing
since the mid-90s), Barrow's Goldeneye (nesting at Lake Aldwell on the
Elwha River), Bald Eagle, Cooper's Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Peregrine
Falcon, California Quail, Sabine's Gull (flock of 250 off La Push),
Caspian Tern (large colony of 100s on Dungeness Spit), Ancient Murrelet
(15 off La Push - might they be breeding on the Olympic Peninsula??),
Cassin's Auklet (500 off La Push - a good sign that euphausiids are
present?), Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove (195 - exploding populations
around Sequim and now reaching P.A.), Red-breasted Sapsucker, Cassin's
Vireo, Hutton's Vireo, Barn Swallow, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Spotted
Towhee, Black-headed Grosbeak, and Am. Goldfinch.

"Unusual" species observed this year:

Black Swift - one observed near the Elwha River
Anna's Hummingbird - winter holdovers near Sequim
Dusky Flycatcher (at Graysmarsh)
Willow Flycatcher (usually arrives later; one bird only on 5/13)
Nashville Warbler (at Graysmarsh)
White-throated Sparrow (at Graysmarsh)
+ Seabirds off La Push - BF Albatross, PF Shearwater, FT Storm-Petrels,
RN Phalarope, Cassin's Auklet, Ancient Murrelet, Sabine's Gull, Arctic
Tern.
+ mountain birds (3 Am. Pipits and 7 Townsend's Solitaires)

"Possible" species we missed this year:

Blue-winged Teal
N. Goshawk
Golden Eagle
Sora
jaegers
Bonaparte's Gull
Horned Lark
Hermit Warbler
Pine Grosbeak

Overall, an excellent count for Clallam County and its diverse bird
communities. Many thanks to all who helped make it possible! If
anyone's interested, we'll try to do the same thing next year on the
second Sat. in May. Come join us!

Bob Boekelheide
Dungeness River Audubon Center
PO Box 2450, Sequim, WA 98382
360-681-4076
<rivercenter at olympus.net>