Posted by Bill Boeringer on January 23, 2018 at 02:08:32
The Kendall CBC was run on December 23, 2017. After tabulating all the results, we reached an excellent 139 “countable” species (pending acceptance of reports by the State Compiler), with another 10 species of exotics, and one Count Week-only bird (Limpkin). We tallied 3 new species for the count—White-tailed Kite, Barred Owl, and White-winged Scoter. As is usual, the three species with the highest individual numbers were Laughing Gull (4,300), White Ibis (3,000) and Turkey Vulture (2,000). Although I had feared numbers would be down as a result of Hurricane Irma’s impact on fruiting trees and the canopy in general, I was surprised to see that among passerines and neotropical migrants, we set all-time bests on quite a few species. This may well be due to the excellent coverage by dedicated participants. Almost every warbler was recorded in record numbers: Northern Parula (121), Yellow Warbler (2), Cape May Warbler (10), Black-throated Blue Warbler (27), Yellow-rumped Warbler (575), Yellow-throated Warbler (53), Prairie Warbler (112), Palm Warbler (530), Black-and-white Warbler (95), American Redstart (69), Northern Waterthrush (14), Common Yellowthroat (68), and Wilson's Warbler (3). Most of these will also be national highs! In addition we set a new record with all 3 of the usual wintering vireos: Yellow-throated (16), White-eyed (13), and Blue-headed (57). As expected, duck and shorebird numbers were very low, as there seems to be almost no good habitat left in the area. Aside from ubiquitous feral Muscovy Ducks and Egyptian Geese, we had a total of only 20 individual dabbling ducks, of 3 species (7 feral Mallard, 6 Mottled, and 7 Blue-winged Teal). Extra work by a number of volunteers in pre-dawn / post-sunset hours got us 5 owls (Barn, Barred, Great Horned, Eastern Screech, and Burrowing) and 3 nightjars (Chuck-will’s-widow, Eastern Whip-poor-will, and Lesser Nighthawk), several in record numbers. I’d like to express my appreciation to Carlos Sanchez, who is always a great help in putting together count teams (and makes a mean tiramisu for the compilation party!), to Frank Ridgely, who each year coordinates all the volunteers at Zoo Miami, and to Patrick Griffith, for his assistance with access to Montgomery Botanical Center. Also, thanks to my long-suffering wife Liset for making such a great table of appetizers and snacks and putting up with a houseful of hungry, tired and thirsty birders at the end of the day! Finally, thank you to all the birders who participated in the count: Carlos Sanchez Jeanne Kaufman Benjamin Machado Leticia de Mello Charles Avenengo Jack Crittenden Jeanette Alvarez Alyssa Crittenden Jeff Weber Edith Einsbruch Marta Magellan James Gersing Judd Patterson Eduardo Ibarra Roberto Torres Raul Urguelles Richard Hoyer Robin Diaz Stephen Paez Omar Paez Joe Montes de Oca Miriam Avello Marc Kramer Eliana Ardila Noah Frade Shane Runyon Nico Salino Frank Ridgely Kibby Treibel Rachael Peck Alex Paez Ezequiel Bugallo Kresimir Golenja Russell Martin Michelle Gleman Stacie Saylor Weiss Brian Rapoza Daria Feinstein Jeanette Rawlings Roxanne Featherly Glenn Huberman The species list: Egyptian Goose 110 Muscovy Duck 615 Mallard 7 Mottled Duck 6 Blue-winged Teal 7 Ring-necked Duck 18 White-winged Scoter 1 Red-breasted Merganser 7 Indian Peafowl 74 Common Loon 1 Pied-billed Grebe 23 Wood Stork 38 Double-crested Cormorant 167 Anhinga 14 American White Pelican 1 Brown Pelican 64 Great Blue Heron 30 Great Blue Heron (White form) 1 Great Egret 72 Snowy Egret 16 Little Blue Heron 50 Tricolored Heron 33 Cattle Egret 295 Green Heron 21 Black-crowned Night-Heron 2 Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 21 White Ibis 3000 Glossy Ibis 8 Black Vulture 129 Turkey Vulture 2000 Osprey 32 White-tailed Kite 1 Northern Harrier 6 Sharp-shinned Hawk 5 Cooper's Hawk 18 Bald Eagle 4 Red-shouldered Hawk 22 Broad-winged Hawk 2 Short-tailed Hawk 11 Red-tailed Hawk 3 Rallus sp. 1 Sora 2 Common Gallinule 80 American Coot 150 Limpkin CW Black-necked Stilt 1 Killdeer 52 Spotted Sandpiper 8 Greater Yellowlegs 5 Lesser Yellowlegs 2 Ruddy Turnstone 12 Least Sandpiper 1 Long-billed Dowitcher 8 Wilson's Snipe 25 Laughing Gull 4300 Ring-billed Gull 285 Herring Gull 10 Lesser Black-backed Gull 67 Caspian Tern 1 Royal Tern 20 Rock Pigeon 365 White-crowned Pigeon 40 Eurasian Collared-Dove 260 Common Ground-Dove 3 White-winged Dove 21 Mourning Dove 250 Mangrove Cuckoo 2 Smooth-billed Ani 1 Barn Owl 2 Eastern Screech-Owl 22 Great Horned Owl 4 Burrowing Owl 4 Barred Owl 1 Lesser Nighthawk 1 Chuck-will's-widow 1 Eastern Whip-poor-will 5 Ruby-throated Hummingbird 104 Rufous Hummingbird 1 Belted Kingfisher 13 Red-bellied Woodpecker 141 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 27 Downy Woodpecker 5 Northern Flicker 2 Pileated Woodpecker 2 American Kestrel 37 Merlin 3 Peregrine Falcon 3 Monk Parakeet 50 Yellow-chevroned Parakeet 26 Orange-winged Parrot 11 Nanday Parakeet 7 Blue-and-yellow Macaw 10 Mitred Parakeet 600 Red-masked Parakeet 175 Least Flycatcher 1 Eastern Phoebe 71 Great Crested Flycatcher 17 Loggerhead Shrike 45 White-eyed Vireo 13 Yellow-throated Vireo 16 Blue-headed Vireo 57 Blue Jay 255 Fish Crow 810 Tree Swallow 13 House Wren 19 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 465 Red-whiskered Bulbul 32 Gray Catbird 195 Brown Thrasher 3 Northern Mockingbird 250 Common Hill Myna 1 European Starling 850 Ovenbird 21 Worm-eating Warbler 1 Northern Waterthrush 14 Black-and-white Warbler 95 Orange-crowned Warbler 6 Nashville Warbler 3 Common Yellowthroat 68 American Redstart 69 Cape May Warbler 10 Northern Parula 121 Magnolia Warbler 2 Yellow Warbler 2 Black-throated Blue Warbler 27 Palm Warbler 530 Pine Warbler 63 Yellow-rumped Warbler 575 Yellow-throated Warbler 53 Prairie Warbler 112 Black-throated Green Warbler 19 Wilson's Warbler 3 Yellow-breasted Chat 1 Grasshopper Sparrow 6 Savannah Sparrow 19 Eastern Towhee 2 Summer Tanager 5 Northern Cardinal 160 Indigo Bunting 7 Painted Bunting 47 Red-winged Blackbird 76 Eastern Meadowlark 16 Common Grackle 530 Boat-tailed Grackle 250 Bronzed Cowbird 87 Spot-breasted Oriole 1 Baltimore Oriole 9 House Finch 4 House Sparrow 111 Scaly-breasted Munia 32