Date: 1/6/25 11:34 am From: forsythnature via groups.io <forsythnature...> Subject: [hmbirds] NYUD Christmas Bird Count results from 12/28/24
The 14th annual Ulster/Dutchess (NYUD) ChristmasBird Count was conducted on Saturday, December 28th under mostlyovercast and damp conditions. With modest precipitation and temperaturesteetering near freezing, pre-dawn owling was definitely a challenge and eithercaused some sector efforts to be aborted or at least abbreviated. Fortunately the diurnal portion of the surveysaw light, southerly breezes that helped to blow off early foggy conditions inthe valley and raise temperatures to a high of 42 degrees without hampering thedetection of our avian friends. A little blue sky even managed to poke throughthe clouds in the early afternoon. There was approximately 80 percent icecoverage on the Hudson River albeit broken and in constant flux during the daywith tidal influences and boat traffic. Smallerstanding bodies of water were iced over but still water that was open (alongwith locations like the mouth of the Rondout and Esopus Creeks) provided some concentrationsof waterfowl.
48 birders in 19 field parties along with five feederwatchers contributed in the ten sectors of the NYUD circle that includes partsof the Towns of Hurley, Woodstock, Ulster, Kingston, Saugerties, Esopus, andthe City of Kingston in Ulster County, parts of the Towns of Rhinebeck and RedHook in Dutchess County, parts of the Towns of Clermont and Germantown inColumbia County, and the tiniest slice of Greene County near Cementon.
This year 20,034individuals representing 79 specieswere identified on count day with one additional species for the count week(12/25/24-12/31/24). The NYUD hasaveraged 84 species/ 18,661 individuals the first 13 years it’s beenconducted. No new species were added tothe composite NYUD list which now stands at 134 species.
The “field birds” of Sector D were highlighted by two Lapland Longspurs but robust numbers of Horned Larks and Snow Buntings werealso noteworthy. Sector D also had the circle’s only N. Saw-whet Owl but from a different locationthis year. A single Red-headedWoodpecker was observed in the Ruby portion of Sector E where sightings ofthis species have been made occasionally but a location deserving of moreregular inspection. Red-breasted Nuthatches were a goodsave in Sector E as well. A Rusty Blackbird and 2 Purple Finches in Sector G were alsogood saves for the circle. Fish Crow and additional Horned Larks (contributingto a new high count) were nice findsin Sector J. In Sector F, Mute Swan and Common Loon, in Sector B,Gadwall, and Red-breasted Merganser, Catbird and Ruby-crowned Kinglet in Sector I were also necessary saves on a daywhen no true rarity presented itself. Rough-legged Hawk was the onlyadditional species observed during count week.
High counts were set or matched for 6 species; HoodedMerganser, Turkey, Great Blue Heron, Horned Lark, Lapland Longspur, and SongSparrow. With exceptional showings from Hooded Merganser (111 /previous high 61)and Horned Lark (475/previous high 232).
Ring-billed Gull was the only species that experienced a lowhistorical count.
Winter vagrant wanderers like Snowy Owls, rarer winterfinches and gulls went undetected this year.
Many thanks to all who birded, brought food and drink to thecompilation, and helped clean up too!
Once again a big thanks to our Dean of Ulster CBC’s Steve Chorvaswho, once again held my hand and tidied up the data to something even I couldunderstand.
I wish you all a healthy and bird-filled New Year.
Sector A (West Saugerties)Robert Miller, George Moxham, Mary Moxham, Wes Finger (fw)
Sector B (Saugerties) (1) SteveChorvas, Alan Beebe (fw), Doreen Beebe (fw), Todd Martin (fw) (2) Nick Martin, Charlie Baran, Mark Baran,Dan Schneidewind
Sector C (Cheviot) MarianSole, Mayuko Fujino, Joan Scheu, Mike Birmingham
Sector D (Kerleys Corners)Peter Schoenberger, Ryan MacLean
Sector E (Woodstock) (1) DebbieCarney, Paul Carney, Olivia Bernard, Joe Chernek (2) Dixon Onderdonk,, DanSpencer, Laura VanVlack (3) Dave Hayes
Sector F (Lake Katrine) (1) AllanBowdery, Lynn Bowdery, Lin Fagan, Charlotte Adamis, Meghan Nogrohu, HarrisonBruhn (2) Jeff Schlabach, Quinn Schlabach (3) Ben Osborn, Scarlett D’Arcy
Sector G (Annandale-On-Hudson)(1) Jessica Prockup, James Prockup, Matthew Rymkiewicz, Wendy Tocci, TimWhitney, Valerie Whitney
Sector H (Red Hook) (1) AdriennePopko (2) Jim Closs, Roberta Dapson
Sector I (Kingston) (1) MarkDeDea, (2) Roddy Greaves, Travis Greaves
Sector J (Rhinebeck) (1) DebWeltsch, Juliet Wolff (2) Rodney Johnson, Jody Perry (3) Madeleine George
