Hello, Tweeters,

The Sequim-Dungeness CBC occurred last Monday, Dec 17, coinciding with the landfall of a large winter storm. Most of the day was cold, windy, snowy, and rainy, but the weather improved by mid-afternoon and finished with a beautiful sunset. The weather caused several groups to limit their time in the field, particularly in the snowy Olympic foothills and on coastal routes experiencing gale-force winds gusting over 40 mph in the morning.

Despite conditions, our count tallied 143 species this year, about average for the past 15 years, but 8 less than our record set last year. Total number of individuals was 46,416, well below average. We had 86 hardy field observers and 19 feeder watchers.

The top ten most abundant species were Am. Wigeon (4,994 individuals), Pine Siskin (3,643), Bufflehead (2,691), Mallard (2,554), Am. Robin (2,364), Brant (2,203), large pink-legged gulls (Glaucous-winged and Olympic Gull hybrids) (2,120), Northern Pintail (1,692), Surf Scoter (1,478), and Eur. Starling (1,451). These 10 species made up over 54% of all birds on our count.

Only 9 species set record high-counts for the 37-year history of the SDCBC -- Cackling Goose, Trumpeter Swan, Tundra Swan, Greater Scaup, Black-crowned Night Heron, Peregrine Falcon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Fox Sparrow, and White-throated Sparrow. Many species tallied below average, some with the lowest counts in the last 15-30 years, including Am. Wigeon, Mallard, Black Scoter, Pacific and Common Loon, Horned and Red-necked Grebe, Am. Kestrel, Pileated Woodpecker, and Savannah Sparrow. The ugly weather conditions prevented representative counts of many birds, particularly coastal species. We picked up 8 owl species, of which only one, N. Saw-whet, was recorded exclusively at night.

Unusual species for the SDCBC seen this year:
Redhead - 3 at different ponds.
Yellow-billed Loon - 1 found by our stalwart boat crew who braved the high seas.
Black-crowned Night Heron - 2 present at roost tree in Dungeness, including 1 adult and 1 immature. This is at least the third year the adult has been present in winter.
Red Knot - 1 at Dungeness Bay, first seen Dec 8.
Snowy Owl - 1 at 3 Crabs, present for several weeks.
Burrowing Owl - 1 near the entrance to Sequim Bay, present since at least Dec 4.
Townsend's Solitaire - 1 at outer Miller Peninsula.
White-throated Sparrow - not real unusual, but a high count of 7 birds was notable, some staked out at feeders.
Yellow-headed Blackbird - 1 bird near Dungeness Recreation Area.

We missed several species on count day but recorded them during count week -- Barrow's Goldeneye, Black Turnstone, W. Screech Owl, Am. Pipit, Swamp Sparrow, and Common Redpoll. Other hoped-for species missed entirely -- Black Oystercatcher, Horned Lark, and Brown-headed Cowbird.

Considering the weather, we did quite well. Many thanks to everyone who participated, and particularly to landowners and agencies who gave us access to closed areas.

Bob Boekelheide
Sequim