Posted by Bill Boeringer on January 16, 2020 at 22:37:56
The Kendall CBC was run on December 21, 2019, the last CBC of the decade. Despite the day starting off with torrential rain, and strong, gusty winds as soon as the rains subsided, our dedicated birders found 134 “countable” species (pending acceptance of reports by the State Compiler), with another 11 species of exotics. The Coral Gables team found one new species for the count— Golden-winged Warbler, a great bird in migration, and extraordinary in winter! Other “write up” birds included Bell’s Vireo, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Yellow-breasted Chat, Solitary Sandpiper, and Lesser Nighthawk (report pending). As is usual, the species with the highest individual numbers were Laughing Gull (1,500), White Ibis (2,400) European Starling (1,800) and Turkey Vulture (2,800). Although I had feared numbers would be down as a result of the weather, we had excellent numbers of wintering warblers. Among the 20 species of warbler recorded, we saw good numbers, including Northern Parula (145), Cape May Warbler (12), Black-throated Blue Warbler (30), Black-throated Green Warbler (25), Black-and-white Warbler (103), American Redstart (61), and Magnolia Warbler (10). Many of these will likely be national high numbers! As has been the case for several years now, duck numbers were discouragingly low, as there is almost no good habitat left in the CBC Circle. Aside from the ubiquitous feral Muscovy Ducks, Mallards, and Egyptian Geese, we had a total of only 19 individual dabbling ducks, of 4 species (4 Mottled Ducks, 3 Northern Shovelers, 1 Green-winged Teal, and 11 Blue-winged Teal), all of which were found by the Black Point/Dump Marsh group. In addition, we completely missed Ring-necked Duck, which had been seen on every previous CBC. The variety and number of shorebirds is deteriorating as well, particularly with those needing marshes and mudflats. Limpkins are increasingly being found on the canals of southwest Miami. The 10 seen was a new count high, and after having been seen only once on the first 13 counts, it has now been seen on 4 of the last 5 counts (and the other year was seen count week). We also found the Circle specialties, with an all-time high of 7 Spot-breasted Orioles, along with 9 Red-whiskered Bulbuls. Scaly-breasted Munias continue to proliferate, with a record 92 obliterating the old mark of 32. I’d like to again express my appreciation to Carlos Sanchez, who is a great help in putting together count teams, finding screech owls (19 were seen; I saw one, and Carlos got the other 18!) and making the crowd-favorite tiramisu for the compilation party; to Frank Ridgely, who each year coordinates all the volunteers at Zoo Miami; and to the folks at Fairchild Gardens and Montgomery Botanical Center, who graciously provide access to our counters. A special thanks to my darling wife Liset for making such a great table of food and snacks, and entertaining in holiday style a houseful of hungry, tired, and especially thirsty birders at the end of the day! Finally, a big thank you to all the birders who participated in the count. Your dedication in showing up in torrential rains to begin the day, and braving the stiff winds throughout, is greatly appreciated. Thanks, too, to our feeder watchers, and I hope for your continued participation Carlos Sanchez Homer Gardin Anna Scharnagl Alex Harper Jack Crittenden Jeanette Alvarez Alyssa Crittenden Jeff Weber Brian Rapoza Brandon Trentler Andrew Smith Dan Smyth Alison Enchelmeyer Rangel Diaz Nahuel Medina Eduardo Ibarra Edith Einsbruch Marta Magellan James Gersing Judd Patterson Raul Urguelles Stephen Paez Omar Paez Joe Montes de Oca Miriam Avello Marc Kramer Eliana Ardila Anne Klein Noah Frade Shane Runyon Nico Salino Frank Ridgely Dolora Batchelor Rachael Peck Kibby Treiber Matthew Maisiano Simone Abicassis Ezequiel Bugallo Steven Whitfield Grant Fischer Steve Woodmansee Daria Feinstein Roxanne Featherly Elizabeth Gushee Michelle Davis Donna Schulman Glenn Huberman Karen Picciano Patricia Tuttle Deborah Dawson The species list: Egyptian Goose 256 Muscovy Duck 636 Mallard 38 Mottled Duck 4 Blue-winged Teal 11 Northern Shoveler 3 Am. Green-winged Teal 1 Red-breasted Merganser 8 Common Loon 1 Pied-billed Grebe 52 Wood Stork 47 Magnificent Frigatebird 4 Double-crested Cormorant 151 Anhinga 34 Brown Pelican 115 Great Blue Heron 19 Great Blue Heron (white) 1 Great Egret 40 Snowy Egret 5 Little Blue Heron 23 Tricolored Heron 18 Cattle Egret 243 Green Heron 20 Black-crowned Night Heron 3 Yellow-crowned Night Heron 9 White Ibis 2390 Black Vulture 304 Turkey Vulture 2820 Osprey 21 White-tailed Kite 1 Northern Harrier 12 Sharp-shinned Hawk 4 Cooper's Hawk 12 Bald Eagle 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 18 Broad-winged Hawk 4 Short-tailed Hawk 18 Red-tailed Hawk 5 Common Gallinule 95 American Coot 242 Limpkin 10 Black-bellied Plover 15 Killdeer 29 Spotted Sandpiper 5 Solitary Sandpiper 1 Greater Yellowlegs 4 Willet 2 Lesser Yellowlegs 4 Ruddy Turnstone 12 Least Sandpiper 2 Long-billed Dowitcher 4 Wilson's Snipe 1 Laughing Gull 1502 Ring-billed Gull 327 Herring Gull 29 Lesser Black-backed Gull 84 Royal Tern 27 Rock Pigeon 347 White-crowned Pigeon 10 Eurasian Collared Dove 89 Common Ground-Dove 1 White-winged Dove 22 Mourning Dove 197 Barn Owl 4 Eastern Screech Owl 19 Great Horned Owl 1 Burrowing Owl 1 Lesser Nighthawk 2 Eastern Whip-poor-will 1 Ruby-throated Hummingbird 64 Belted Kingfisher 14 Red-bellied Woodpecker 86 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 22 Downy Woodpecker 3 Northern Flicker 2 American Kestrel 35 Merlin 2 Peregrine Falcon 5 Monk Parakeet 95 Eastern Phoebe 52 Great Crested Flycatcher 12 Loggerhead Shrike 25 White-eyed Vireo 13 Bell's Vireo 1 Yellow-throated Vireo 7 Blue-headed Vireo 55 Blue Jay 173 Fish Crow 572 Cave Swallow 45 House Wren 14 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 385 Red-whiskered Bulbul 9 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2 Gray Catbird 93 Brown Thrasher 2 Northern Mockingbird 107 European Starling 1815 Common Myna 4 Ovenbird 24 Worm-eating Warbler 1 Northern Waterthrush 2 Golden-winged Warbler 1 Black-and-white Warbler 103 Orange-crowned Warbler 10 Common Yellowthroat 37 American Redstart 61 Cape May Warbler 12 Northern Parula 145 Magnolia Warbler 10 Yellow Warbler 1 Black-throated Blue Warbler 30 Palm Warbler 329 Pine Warbler 47 Yellow-rumped Warbler 153 Yellow-throated Warbler 29 Prairie Warbler 58 Black-throated Green Warbler 25 Wilson's Warbler 1 Yellow-breasted Chat 1 Grasshopper Sparrow 3 Savannah Sparrow 16 Summer Tanager 9 Northern Cardinal 140 Indigo Bunting 7 Painted Bunting 63 Red-winged Blackbird 136 Eastern Meadowlark 13 Yellow-headed Blackbird 1 Common Grackle 403 Boat-tailed Grackle 756 Bronzed Cowbird 77 Spot-breasted Oriole 7 Baltimore Oriole 4 House Finch 1 House Sparrow 49 exotics Domestic Goose 5 Mute Swan 6 Indian Peafowl 80 Yellow-chevroned Parakeet 18 Orange-winged Parrot 24 Blue-and-Yellow Macaw 13 Chestnut-fronted Macaw 6 Mitred Parakeet 383 Red-masked Parakeet 75 Common Hill Myna 2 Scaly-breasted Munia 92