Humboldt Co. CBC was held on Sunday Dec. 22, 2024. We had three people help, two field people and a feederwatcher. We encountered 34 species on the count day, and additional 2 (for right now...will update if necessary) during the count week bringing us up to 36 (as of now). This shifted the mean number of species encountered yearly on the count by 0.17 from 32.3 to 32.47. We saw 2800 individual birds. Notable finds include Purple Finch, Common Grackle, Red-winged Blackbird, the largest number of Meadowlarks observed on the count, possibly the largest flock of Trumpeter Swans seen in Humboldt County since the 19th century coming in at 61 birds, a count week Red-shouldered Hawk (completely unexpected), and Red-headed Woodpecker, oh yes...and an Emu (I'm aware, this is in jest sort of). Sparrows had poor showings, only two native species and their numbers either slightly or significantly below norms. Waterfowl diversity and numbers were way down (outside the astonishing swan flock) just Canada Geese and Mallards this year, and numbers low (I suspect the river being increasingly open in inaccessible spots is contributing to this effect). Raptors did poorly throughout the day but rallied in the afternoon once the wind started to calm, but we saw no Rough-legged (but this seems on brand for this year). No thrushes, were seen which I felt was unexpected and owls had bad showing as we only logged Barred. Another notable miss, though this is a long time coming, is Eurasian Collared-doves which is ironic considering that when the count started; Rutland was the focal point of their activity in the county, but now they are very unreliably found almost anywhere in the circle and when found only in singles or pairs. A curious case study for someone interested in the mechanics of boom-bust exotic species demography I suppose.
I want to thank Russel Rice and Kevin Murphy, who assisted me on this count. I have done this count solo in the past, and it is...too much. Many may look at out count totals and see a count below their position to do, but Humboldt County holds secrets and surprises for those willing to dig for it, and I think this count and county is a testament to birding in places that are aggressively under-birded and undervalued by birders.
Jacob Newton Ottosen, Sec 3, Wacousta Township, Humboldt County, IA, 50570, USA
