Date: 5/17/25 6:49 am From: Norman Budnitz (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Jordan Lake Spring Bird Count compiler's notes
Jordan Lake Spring Bird Count 2025
As was the case in 2024, the major influence on our May 4, 2025, Jordan
Lake Spring Bird Count was the intermittent rain (mostly light, but
sometimes heavy in some locations). Luckily, temperatures were mild,
ranging from 62° to 68°F and the winds were variable from calm to 10 mph.
The sky was overcast all morning, clearing in the afternoon.
Forty-five (45) observers in 26 parties participated (our 10-year averages
are 47 and 23, respectively). We tallied 8,371 individual birds (avg.
8,147) in 117 species (avg. 118) in 122 party hours (avg. 122). These
effort numbers show that in spite of the rainy weather, our dedicated
observers can still do the job!
We missed a few species that we normally find—Northern Bobwhite, Rock
Pigeon, Cooper’s Hawk, and Bobolink. However, we did find a few notable
species:
· Scaup sp (too far away to determine which species, even with a
photo)—2 found by Jonathan Cantrell.
· Least Sandpiper—1 found by Rick Payne.
· Caspian Tern—2 (likely the same birds) found by 2 parties (Alan
Avakian and Matt Spangler)
· Great Egret—3 found by Kerry & Trish MacPherson
In spite of the weather, we set two new record highs.
· Chipping Sparrows—434 (previous record was 367 in 2023)
· Brown-headed Cowbirds—229 (previous record was 199 in 2012)
Noah Rokoske found 82 species in the area on the west side of the Jordan
Lake Dam, while Jonathan Cantrell hit the 70 species mark in the area
covering Harris Lake.
