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Posted by Bart Scott on 05:13:52 01/13/15
A slew of rarities, and the hard work of our dedicated birders allowed us to reach a very respectable 145 species on this year's West Palm Beach Christmas Bird Count. The total is just below last year's number, 148.
145 is still preliminary, and subject to review by the state compiler. But even being in this ballpark is a bit amazing given conditions
Overall, though, I expect the numbers will be down. An example is Yellow-rumped Warbler. In recent years, numbers for this species had rebounded to the 600-900 range. This year's preliminary number is just 120.
Here's a summary of the rarities:
Brian Hope and Andrew Knafel enjoyed a flurry of activity late in the day, picking up 2 Roseate Terns-- a count first, and a Surf Scoter-- only previously appearing during Count Week. (The Surf was among 20-plus Black Scoters, recorded for just the 7th time.)
The team of John and Chadda Shelly, and Lee Hasse, got our other count first: 2 House Finches along Lake Ida. This species has been increasing in our area, and these may be the same birds Linda Humphries and Paton had on their field trip at Lake Ida three weeks earlier.
The teams at Wakodahatchee, led by Walt Hackenjos and Paul Thomas in the morning, and Valleri Brauer in the afternoon, located and documented the ongoing rarities there: Neotropic Cormorant and Yellow-headed Blackbird. This is the third time for Neotropic (three consecutive years now), and records show the fourth for Yellow-headed, the last in 1994.
Covering the Snook Islands Natural Area viewing platform, Tony and Lori Pasko, and Gael Silverblatt, documented 2 Piping Plovers-- just the fourth time for this endangered species.
Brian Hope, Andrew Knafel and Bart Scott got a Blue-winged Warbler, seen for only the fifth time on our count, and incredibly, at the same location where Brian had one on our CBC in 1999.
Jo Key, Cathy Burdette and I picked up a Western Tanager at a private nursery-- records indicate the first on our count since 1978.
And here's a partial list of species we could have easily missed:
Rick Schofield's barrier island teams got our only Loons, Frigatebirds, and Black Skimmers-- not uncommon to miss all three of these in a given year.
Alan Summersgill's group snagged the only American Wigeon, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Caspian Tern, and Meadowlark-- all found on properties where they will not have access next year as development progresses.
Linda McCandless' team got our lone Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Kathy Walters' crew came up with the solo Brown Thrasher. Steve and Melanie Garcia located the only Flickers and Grasshopper Sparrow. And members of Paul Davis' Hypoluxo and Lantana Scrub group were the only counters finding Common Ground-Doves.
A huge "thank you" to all 75-plus participants, who put in some long hours in the field on a pretty warm day! Thanks also to all those who had to write-up an account of their unusual sightings! - Chuck Weber
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