Happy Holidays, Tweeters,

The final tallies for the Sequim-Dungeness Christmas Bird Count, held
on Dec. 15th, are all finished. A total of 91 field observers and 43
feeder watchers contributed to our count this year. The weather did
not cooperate, with snow all around, temperatures ranging between 19
and 31 degrees, and a cold north wind gusting 20 to 30 kts for all
coastal routes.

Our count ended up with 140 species this year, our lowest species
count for the last 10 years. Individual birds numbered 53,913, which
is substantially lower than our all-time high count of 81,325,
recorded in 2006. The most abundant species this year was Am. Wigeon
(12,418), followed in the top 10 by Mallard (3176), N. Pintail
(2818), OlympicGull/Glaucous-winged Gull (2501), European Starling
(2294), Am. Robin (2045), Brant (2007), DE Junco (1929), Brewer's
Blackbird (1770), and Pine Siskin (1423). These 10 species comprised
about 60 percent of all the birds seen on our count. A total of 34
species tallied 5 individuals or fewer.

Unusual species for our count included:
-- Cattle Egret (1) -- observed and photographed at Jamestown
-- Rough-legged Hawk (1) - observed at Graysmarsh
-- Western Bluebird (8) -- young birds still hanging around where
they fledged earlier this year near Carrie Blake Park
-- Yellow-headed Blackbird (1) -- observed at Olympic Game Farm

Species recording high tallies for our count:
-- Brant (2007) -- second highest count for the last 33 years
-- Trumpeter Swan (57) - high count
-- Bald Eagle (178) - highest ever
-- Killdeer (127) - fourth highest for the last 33 years
-- Wilson's Snipe (26) -- third highest for the last 33 years
-- Eurasian Collared-Dove (13) -- continuing to increase!
-- Barred Owl (2) - hooting by Sequim Bay
-- Anna's Hummingbird (22) - highest ever
-- Am. Pipit (63) - highest ever, most seen near Washington Harbor
-- Orange-crowned Warbler (4) - tied high count
-- Fox Sparrow (261) - highest ever
-- Song Sparrow (1365) - highest ever
-- Lincoln's Sparrow (30) - highest ever
-- White-throated Sparrow (3) - tied high count
-- Golden-crowned Sparrow (945) - highest ever
--DE Junco (1929) - second highest ever

Low counts occurred for the following species. The wild coastal
weather and frozen inshore ponds certainly contributed to some of
these numbers, but several, such as the loons and grebes, are in the
midst of long-term declines.
-- Pacific Loon (39) - lowest since 1994
-- Common Loon (18) - second lowest in 33 years of our count
-- Horned Grebe (49) - second lowest count ever for our count
-- Red-necked Grebe (59) - fifth lowest for our count
-- Wood Duck (3) - lowest since 1986
-- N. Shoveler (48) - lowest since 1985
-- Lesser Scaup (8) - lowest since 1998
-- Harlequin Duck (42) - lowest since 1979
-- Bufflehead (1093) - lowest since 1984
-- Com. Goldeneye (153) - lowest since 1976
-- Am Coot (29) - lowest since 1987
-- Ancient Murrelet (102) - lowest since 1996
-- Belted Kingfisher (15) - lowest since 1989
-- Bewick's Wren (15) - lowest since 1994
-- Winter Wren (100) - lowest since 1995
-- Evening Grosbeak (0) - The classic eruptive finch. Eighth year
since 1975 in which we didn't have EveBeaks either on our count or
during count week.
-- House Sparrow (152) - lowest since 1998

Glaring misses for our count this year: Am Bittern, N. Pygmy Owl,
Short-eared Owl (CW), Gray Jay, Townsend Warbler (CW), and Evening
Grosbeak.

Owls did okay with a nice full moon and calm pre-dawn winds,
rewarding 14.5 owling hours with 7 Barn Owls, 1 W. Screech-Owl, 4
Great Horned Owls, 2 Barred Owls and 5 N. Saw-whet Owls.

All in all, we did reasonably well considering the unfavorable
conditions this year. Many many thanks to all who participated in
our count, particularly those who braved ugly conditions along the
coast to reach difficult areas.

Bob Boekelheide
Sequim
bboek at olympus.net



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