Subject: [Tweeters] Clallam County Birdathon results
Date: May 28 23:40:43 2007
From: Bob and Barb Boekelheide - bboek at olympus.net


Hello, Tweeters,

Hoo-hoo! We finally have the data compiled from the Clallam County
Birdathon/International Migratory Bird Count on May 12, 2007. In
total, 60 parties composed of exactly 100 stalwart counters covered
Clallam County from the mountains to the sea, from Discovery Bay to
La Push. Unfortunately the pelagic boat out of La Push could not go
out that day because of rough seas, otherwise we would have certainly
set an all-time species record for our May count. We also didn't get
perfect coverage in the Olympics, so we missed some montane species.

We ended up with 191 species, comprised of 24,109 individuals. This
is only 2 species shy of our all-time record of 193 set in 1999, a
year when our pelagic boat was able to get offshore. Curiously, this
year was fairly low in numbers of individuals, possibly because the
boat didn't go, so we missed flocks of marine species. Our all-time
high count for individuals is 33,416, also in 1999.

The most abundant species this year were: (number counted)
Common Murre (2805)
Glaucous-winged/Olympic/large-pink-legged Gull (1966) (plus an
additional 685 gull sp.)
Am. Robin (1026)
Am. Goldfinch (897)
Violet-green Swallow (772)
Am. Wigeon (604) (lots still around in early May this year!)
Mallard (591)
Dunlin (528)
Red-winged Blackbird (503)
Barn Swallow (501)
Pine Siskin (480)
Surf Scoter (457)
Eur. Starling (440)
Pigeon Guillemot (410)
Caspian Tern (409)
Savannah Sparrow (408)

Record high counts for our May count occurred for the following
species, suggesting that they're doing quite well this year, or else
still migrating through in good numbers on count day, or else we
found them at the right spots:
Am. Wigeon (604)
Barrow's Goldeneye (32)
Sooty Grouse (54)
Cooper's Hawk (14)
Red-tailed Hawk (72)
Virginia Rail (16)
Greater Yellowlegs (13)
Ring-billed Gull (22)
Anna's Hummingbird (6 - some of these have been visiting the same
feeders since winter)
Downy Woodpecker (32)
Olive-sided Flycatcher (34)
Purple Martin (8)
Wilson's Warbler (281)
Black-headed Grosbeak (92)
Pine Siskin (480)
Am. Goldfinch (897)

Species that were low for our count, or some near misses:
Common Loon (20)
Pied-billed Grebe - none! (They were here, but no one saw them)
Am. Coot (12)
Brown Pelican - none (count week birds at La Push)

Unusual species for our spring count (seen less that 5 times in the
last 14 years) included:
Trumpeter Swan - one late individual, only the 2nd time in the last
14 years of May counts
Wild Turkey - 4 wild individuals breeding by the Dungeness River for
the second year
No. Fulmar - seen from Cape Flattery, only 2nd time in last 14 years
Short-tailed Shearwater - seen from Cape Flattery, field marks
separated this bird from Sooties also flying by
Lesser Yellowlegs - 3rd record in last 14 years
Long-billed Curlew - present at Dungeness Bay for several days
Sabine's Gull - seen from shore at La Push, very unusual in so close
Eurasian Collared-Dove - 3 near Forks (!)
Western Kingbird - at Dungeness, 4th time in 14 years
Red-eyed Vireo - one bird near Sekiu in early morning
Yellow-headed Blackbird - one female at 3 Crabs

The final tabulations will be posted in a day or two on the Olympic
Peninsula Audubon's website at www.olympicpeninsulaaudubon.org, if
anyone's interested. And next year's count will be the second
Saturday in May - please join us!

Bob Boekelheide
Sequim