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Subject: Montauk CBC 2013: Preliminary Results
Date: Tue Dec 17 2013 13:02 pm
From: oceanwanderers AT gmail.com
On Saturday (14 Dec 2013) a small but valiant band of counters battled strong NE winds, frigid temperatures and steady light snow to survey the Montauk Christmas Bird Count (CBC) circle. Covering all six of the territories that make up the circle we tallied 46,608 individuals of 110 species. The species count closely matched our average over the previous six years of 110.5 species; a sterling performance considering the testing field conditions and the cold snap preceding the count that cleared out many of the lingering landbirds. The lion’s share of the tally was made up of the three scoter species, with the Point South team logging a whopping 30,160 in the choppy waters surround the Point, these mixed in with 1,725 COMMON EIDER. One of our glaring misses of the day was probably King Eider. Multiple individuals have been spotted within the scoter flock in the preceding weeks and the tough viewing conditions on count day are probably to blame for this omission. The only alcids observed were RAZORBILLS with a total of 55 found by the Point South and Lake West Parties. Other highlights were spread across the territories, with the champion's crown going to the West Lake Party for their ROSS’S GOOSE, a new species for the count. This handsome adult bird was discovered among the Canada Geese grazing on the Montauk Downs Golf Course and was still present yesterday. Less unexpected perhaps was a new count maximum of 11 SNOWY OWLS, crushing our previous high of 5 (set in 1986) and we also tied the count max for IPSWICH SPARROW with 10 (set in 1999). A NORTHERN SHRIKE found by members of the Napeague Party prompted some temporary defections by other participants. On Gardiner’s Island, counters traveling on foot throughout the day (compilers note: “and still feeling it”) found 3 BALD EAGLES and 3 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS plus 5 of the SNOWY OWLS, including one that snatched a duck (either Ruddy or Bufflehead) off one of the ponds. The Point North Party added the only HARLEQUIN DUCK and VIRGINIA RAIL among other saves. The marshes proved especially difficult in the conditions and with so few people but the Accabonac Party produced a lone GREAT EGRET, a species that is often missed, and the only WILSON’S SNIPE and GREATER YELLOWLEGS. The 2014 Montauk CBC will be held on SATURDAY 20 DECEMBER (mark your calendars) and we welcome additional participants. There is extensive bird-rich habitat in this wild corner of Long Island and we firmly believe that we only scratched the surface with our cursory coverage last weekend. More people, more places, more birds. Our sincere thanks to all of the field party members and several other individuals who played equally important support roles. Without all of you this historic count would not be possible. It was fun, let's try it again next year! Karen Rubinstein, Peter Polshek and Angus Wilson
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