Yesterday (Saturday 4 January, 2025) presented challenging conditions for the 85th Southern Nassau County CBC. At 30-36 F, temperatures were somewhat colder than has been usual in recent years, but even shallow still water was open and had been so for more than a week. The problem was the west-northwest wind, which averaged about 25 mph during daylight, with gusts above 40 mph. In exposed areas it was often difficult to observe any birds that might have been present. Even so, our 94 participants showed great fortitude and ingenuity in working their territories as best they could, and the preliminary species total of 134 was just slightly below the average of the past ten counts.
The effects of the wind were evident in many lower than expected counts of common passerine birds; for example, totals for Carolina Wren and Song Sparrow were about 60% of recent norms, despite ample (uncomfortable!) party-hours and -miles on foot. Ten-year minima for Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Hairy Woodpecker, Black-capped Chickadee, Gray Catbird, House Sparrow, Ipswich Sparrow, and Song Sparrow were likely wind-related, at least in part, as were misses of Cedar Waxwing (first since 2012-13) and Field Sparrow (first since 1939-40). The last, however, has been trending steadily downward for many years, along with the ecologically similar American Tree Sparrow. Tree Sparrow is unique on this long-running count as a common songbird that has never been scarcer than it is at present. One of relatively few species never missed on 85 tries, it was found in ample numbers even during the earliest years of the count, when coverage and effort were vastly lower than norms over the past half century or more. Besides Cedar Waxwing and Field Sparrow, just three other expected species eluded us this year: Common Merganser, Great Cormorant, and Tree Swallow. Of these, the first two have been trending downward on the count for years, and the last is notably volatile from year to year.
In general, we had better luck with larger aquatic birds, recording all-time maxima for Canada Goose (10,465), Razorbill (2029), and Bald Eagle (10), as well as ten-year maxima for Northern Pintail (178), Redhead (25), Ruddy Duck (794), Killdeer (23), and Northern Gannet (1180), and a stupendous but narrowly sub-maximal count of 1373 Hooded Mergansers. An all-time high of 1191 American Robins, though probably unrelated to the factors influencing the other high counts, is also notable.
Broadly, the themes just described among the more numerous species were also evident among the scarcer species. The second part of our compilation is devoted to these less expected species, and the list of saves—and also spoiled saves, turned up by more than one team—was exceptional, especially given the windy conditions. As suggested above, these novelties were heavily weighted toward birds favoring open or aquatic habitats: Two Snow Goose, Cackling Goose, Laughing Gull, five (!) Black-headed Gull, American Bittern, eleven Great Egret, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Virginia and Clapper Rail, five (!) Semipalmated Plover, three Wilson’s Snipe, three American Woodcock, two Long-billed Dowitcher, Snowy Owl, two Marsh Wren, Lapland Longspur, and Nelson’s Sparrow contributed to the robust species total. Although the woods and thickets yielded fewer surprises, a Red-shouldered Hawk and three Northern Saw-whet Owls were excellent finds; two Eastern Phoebe were unexpected, given the windy conditions, as were a Yellow-breasted Chat and robust showings by Orange-crowned (7), Pine (3), and Palm (3) Warblers. Not to be overlooked among the day’s many highlights were the many regularly occurring species that tested observers’ stamina and skill. Species such as Brown Creeper (Massapequa), American Pipit (two teams), Rusty Blackbird (Hempstead Lake), and Common Grackle (Atlantic) were among the many that easily could have been missed but were instead found and added to our record books. As one of the last counts conducted each year, this longstanding and well-attended CBC inevitably involves many people who have already worked hard in ensuring the success of other counts, earlier in the season. This year was no exception, with participants from this year’s Brooklyn, Montauk, Captree, Queens, Central Suffolk, Smithtown, Northern Nassau, Bronx-Westchester, and Drake Passage CBCs joining together yesterday for one more challenge.
Finally, after several years in which our compilation was affected adversely, by the pandemic and by the unavailability of Otto’s Sea Grill in Freeport, this year we resumed our tradition of a festive, full-scale compilation. At the suggestion of Sharon and Marc Brody, Patricia organized a delightful dinner at Fabio’s on the Water in Merrick, enjoyed by about 50 of us last night. We extend thanks for permits and assistance with access from the New York State Parks, Town of Hempstead, and Town of Oyster Bay, and we express our gratitude and admiration to all of the participants who contributed to the legacy of this venerable exercise in citizen science.
Patricia Lindsay & ShaiMitra
Bay Shore, NY
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