Hello, Tweeters,

I've finally finished tabulating the results for the Clallam County Birdathon, held on International Migratory Bird Day, May 12, 2012, and what a day it was. It took awhile to double check all the sightings and data, but I think we're there. It may be old news, but it's good news.

In total, on count day 60 valiant observers in 37 parties located 202 species totaling 28,263 individuals. The species total is nine more than our previous record seen in 1999. I believe it is the first time that 200 or more species have been seen in one county in Washington in one day. The individual count was above average for the 19 years of this count, but still below the all-time high of 33,537 birds seen in 2010.

The weather was perfect - light winds, few clouds, and great visibilities. Parties at the west end of Clallam County did especially well, particularly Denny Van Horn covering the Ozette to Neah Bay route and Scott Horton covering pelagic species while halibut fishing out of La Push. The west end of Clallam County is too often neglected on this count, but this year shows what is possible with better coverage. Our mountain parties came back with species ranging from Golden Eagles to Pine Grosbeaks.

Species numbering well above their long-term averages this year (n = 19 years): Cackling Goose, Cinnamon Teal, Pied-billed Grebe, Black-footed Albatross, Brown Pelican, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Whimbrel, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Barred Owl, Anna?s Hummingbird, and Yellow Warbler. Some of these species continue long-term increases, such as Brown Pelican, Bald Eagle, collared-dove, Barred Owl, and Anna's Hummer. Since there are no heronries to speak of in Clallam County, increased Great Blue Herons might be a good thing or a bad thing: good if these are pre-breeding immatures that fledged somewhere else in the last couple years, or bad if they're failed breeders from this year. As so often happens, our count again overlapped with large numbers of certain migrant species moving along the coastline. This year Cackling Geese, Whimbrels, and Yellow Warblers were the appointed species.

Species numbering well below long-term averages this year = Wood Duck, Harlequin Duck, Western Grebe, Pelagic Cormorant, Killdeer, Rock Pigeon, and Pine Siskin.

"Unusual" species for our spring count, observed this year:
Canvasback ? 2nd record for our Birdathon, seen by Denny Van Horn in Neah Bay.
Am. White Pelican ? 6 birds seen by Denny flying off Neah Bay, the first ever on our Birdathon. Not coincidentally, 6 white pelicans showed up in Dungeness Bay on 5/19/12, one week after Birdathon, and stayed for a couple days.
Green Heron ? 2 different birds; 5th occurrence for Birdathon.
N. Goshawk ? found by Scott Atkinson on the south side of Bear Mtn near the Dungeness River, 5th occurrence for Birdathon.
Long-billed Curlew ? one found by Sue Thomas (USFWS) at Dungeness Spit and two found by Denny mixed in with a big flock of 155 Whimbrels at Hobuck Beach. 4th occurrence on Birdathon.
Heermann?s Gull ? One found by Denny at gull roost in Neah Bay, 4th occurrence on Birdathon.
Black Swift ? Six flying by coastal bluffs at Capes Alava and Flattery, 4th occurrence on Birdathon.
Calliope Hummingbird ? Denny found two, one along the Cape Alava trail and one at Ozette campground, and Scott Atkinson found one near the Dungeness Forks campground. Second occurrence on our Birdathon.
W. Scrub-Jay ? First ever on our Birdathon, seen by Bob Iddins at Diamond Point the day before Birdathon and again at 6 a.m. on Birdathon morning. Later the same day one showed up about 2 miles away, possibly the same bird.
Mountain Bluebird ? 3rd occurrence on Birdathon, at the Waatch River Valley.
N. Mockingbird ? First ever for our Birdathon, seen by Denny at Waatch River Valley.
Nashville Warbler ? Five at Neah Bay seen by Denny, 3rd occurrence on Birdathon.
Palm Warbler ? One at Makah Bay seen by Denny, first ever on Birdathon.
Pine Grosbeak ? Three seen by Hank and Raedell Warren along the Hurricane Ridge Rd., 2nd occurrence for Birdathon.

Count week species: Not seen on count day, but observed in Clallam County during count week (dang!): No. Fulmar, Am. Bittern, Sandhill Crane, Red Phalarope, and Spotted Owl.

We missed several "possible" species this year, all of which were probably somewhere in the county:
Eurasian Wigeon ? first miss in 10 years; Barrow?s Goldeneye ? first miss since 1995 (Removing Elwha River dams may have extirpated a local breeding population); Jaegers; Bonaparte's Gull; Horned Lark; Western Bluebird; and Townsend?s Solitaire.

Tabulated results will be available on-line in the summer issue of the Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society newsletter, on the OPAS website.

Many, many thanks to all who helped this year! Extra thanks to Judy Bromell, who again helped with data entry. We look forward to next year's count on Saturday, May 11, 2013 -- please join us.

Bob Boekelheide
Dungeness
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