Date: 1/22/25 10:46 am From: Harry LeGrand (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Fwd: Raleigh CBC summary
Folks,
Here is the summary of the Raleigh CBC, as compiled and commented on by
Brian O'Shea. A great count, thanks to so many people and parties. And,
this 106 total was in a winter without much of a "winter finch" season --
Purple Finches yes, but Pine Siskins and Red-breasted Nuthatches no (and of
course no Evening Grosbeaks). He didn't mention the "misses", as there
were so few. As I've been doing the count off and on for many decades,
these are my thoughts as "misses" -- Canvasback (scarce now), E.
Screech-Owl (missed for a number of years now, but ought to be in the
circle somewhere), Northern Bobwhite (long-time miss here and in many other
circles), Wild Turkey (not scarce in the county, but found mostly outside
the circle), White-crowned Sparrow (not at Prairie Ridge this winter),
Common Yellowthroat (very hard in winter around here now, for no obvious
reason; most other songbirds at the northern or inner edge of their winter
range ARE being found, like Palm, Orange-crowned, Black-and-white W.,
Blue-headed Vireo, House Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.)
Enjoy his summary!
Harry LeGrand
Raeigh
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Brian O'Shea <boshea2...>
Date: Tue, Jan 21, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Subject: Raleigh CBC summary
To: Brian O'Shea <boshea2...>
Dear Raleigh CBC participants,
Thank you again for participating in the 2024 Christmas Count! We had a
fantastic count this year. A total of 71 participants (67 in the field,
plus four feeder watchers), in 24 parties, put in 140.6 hours and covered
94.24 miles on foot - these are great numbers and well above average for
the previous six years. Our species total was even better: 106! This is the
highest species count in many years, handily beating last year's count of
103. Although no notable rarities were found, we had great numbers of
several species (see below), and some nice highlights including two
Merlins, five Vesper Sparrows, and a Loggerhead Shrike. We tallied 17,995
individual birds, which is above the previous six years' average (16,842)
but well within the normal range of variation for this count. Finally,
although they were not observed on count day, two species (Common Loon and
Great Egret) were observed inside the count circle during the "count week"
period, and thus will appear in the count summary published by National
Audubon.
The five most numerous species this year were White-throated Sparrow
(1825), Canada Goose (1424), American Robin (904), Red-winged Blackbird
(721), and Double-crested Cormorant (690). Although our numbers of some
species - robins and Cedar Waxwings, in particular - were rather low, we
set all-time high count records for eight species, listed here with
previous high count and year:
We also tied our high count records for Merlin (2) and Common Raven (4).
Nineteen of our 106 species were only reported by one party. As usual, the
Lake Benson kayakers scored big here, getting out well before dawn to tally
loads of ducks before they departed for their daytime haunts. But no fewer
than ten other parties also reported "unique" species. Here they all are:
Lake Benson kayakers: American Black Duck, Northern Pintail, American
Wigeon, Lesser Scaup, Least Sandpiper, Red-headed Woodpecker
Lake Benson land-based group: Redhead
Walnut Creek: Hummingbird sp., Fish Crow
Schenck Forest: American Woodcock
Prairie Ridge: Bonaparte's Gull
Lake Johnson: Osprey
Dix Park: Sharp-shinned Hawk
Downtown Raleigh: Peregrine Falcon
Umstead SP: Loggerhead Shrike
Mid-Pines Rd: Horned Lark, Vesper Sparrow
NCSU Ag Fields: Spotted Sandpiper, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Great job everyone!
Below is the complete species list and count totals for the day - please
share with anyone in your group that I may not have communicated with
previously. Thanks once again for a great CBC in 2024. The 2025 count will
be held on Saturday, December 20 - for all you regulars/site leaders, I'll
be contacting you again in late November. If you're new to the count and
are interested in participating again this year, you can send me an email
and I'll put you on the contact list. Have a great 2025 everyone! All the
best, Brian
Raleigh CBC
Saturday, December 21, 2024
106 species (+2 CW), 17995 individuals
Mute Swan 15
Canada Goose 1424
Wood Duck 37
Green-winged Teal 582
Gadwall 224
American Black Duck 24
Mallard 445
Northern Pintail 5
Northern Shoveler 91
American Wigeon 2
Redhead 2
Ring-necked Duck 173
Lesser Scaup 20
Bufflehead 62
Hooded Merganser 436
Ruddy Duck 313
Pied-billed Grebe 32
Horned Grebe 2
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 651
Mourning Dove 256
hummingbird sp. 1
Killdeer 199
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Least Sandpiper 1
Wilson's Snipe 27
American Woodcock 4
Bonaparte's Gull 1
Ring-billed Gull 587
Herring Gull 9
Double-crested Cormorant 690
Great Blue Heron 48
Black Vulture 88
Turkey Vulture 130
Bald Eagle 28
Osprey 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Cooper's Hawk 6
Red-shouldered Hawk 49
Red-tailed Hawk 22
Great Horned Owl 2
Barred Owl 9
Belted Kingfisher 27
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 68
Red-headed Woodpecker 3
Red-bellied Woodpecker 160
Downy Woodpecker 128
Hairy Woodpecker 18
Pileated Woodpecker 18
Northern Flicker 72
American Kestrel 8
Merlin 2
Peregrine Falcon 1
Eastern Phoebe 59
Loggerhead Shrike 1
Blue-headed Vireo 3
Blue Jay 189
American Crow 254
Fish Crow 3
Common Raven 4
Horned Lark 1
Carolina Chickadee 276
Tufted Titmouse 196
White-breasted Nuthatch 89
Brown-headed Nuthatch 163
Brown Creeper 18
House Wren 3
Winter Wren 25
Carolina Wren 317
Golden-crowned Kinglet 76
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 183
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2
Eastern Bluebird 406
Hermit Thrush 72
American Robin 904
Gray Catbird 3
Brown Thrasher 46
Northern Mockingbird 121
American Pipit 26
European Starling 416
Cedar Waxwing 231
House Finch 430
Purple Finch 52
American Goldfinch 327
House Sparrow 37
Chipping Sparrow 612
Field Sparrow 50
Savannah Sparrow 45
Fox Sparrow 13
Dark-eyed Junco 575
White-throated Sparrow 1825
Vesper Sparrow 5
Song Sparrow 256
Swamp Sparrow 45
Eastern Towhee 119
Passerellidae sp. 20
Baltimore Oriole 28
Eastern Meadowlark 28
Red-winged Blackbird 721
Rusty Blackbird 75
Brown-headed Cowbird 660
Common Grackle 50
Black-and-white Warbler 3
Orange-crowned Warbler 2
Palm Warbler 4
Pine Warbler 51
Yellow-rumped Warbler 208
Northern Cardinal 459