Posted by Bill Boeringer on January 18, 2021 at 16:04:59
Like a Pennsylvania election, the Kendall CBC results may roll in slow, but we get it done eventually. With all precincts finally reporting, I am pleased to report another highly successful count. We tallied 138 species, plus another 10 exotics. We also had 4 more species during Count Week, plus one exotic (Magnificent Frigatebird, Cedar Waxwing, Western Tanager, and Bullock's Oriole, plus Nanday Parakeet). The full list is at the bottom of this report. One species was new for Count Day - Snail Kite (one which visited the canal alongside my house for almost three weeks!). The Bullock's Oriole was also new, but for Count Week only. Among the day's highlights were an amazing 5 Rufous/Allen's Hummingbirds were tallied by the Zoo Miami Crew, a pheucticus grosbeak (which could not be established as to species, although likely Rose-breasted) found by Alex Harper, a Solitary Sandpiper seen and photographed by Eliana & Marc Kramer, and a Warbling Vireo found and photographed by Judd Patterson. What was most unexpected was the numbers of birds reported. Having participated in both the Miami and Coot Bay CBCs, I knew neotropical migrant numbers had been down somewhat all around. But…to quote Carlos Sanchez, "The Kendall Count is Where America's Warblers Winter". We totaled 21 species of warblers for the day. Our count routinely leads the nation in certain numbers of neotropical migrants, and this year we broke many of our own records. We had new Count highs for Blue-gray Gnatcatchers (621), Black-and-white Warbler (111), Common Yellowthroat (83), American Redstart (tie at 69), Northern Parula (156), Yellow Warbler (3), Black-throated Blue Warbler (33), Yellow-throated Warbler (70), Prairie Warbler (114), and Baltimore Oriole (7)! It was not only neotropicals that tallied good numbers. Raptors were aloft, and we set new Count highs for Sharp-shinned Hawk (10), Bald Eagle (9), Red-shouldered Hawk (32), Red-tailed Hawk (9), Merlin (tie at 4) and American Kestrel (32). We also had new Count high numbers for Muscovy Duck, Brown Pelican, Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, Turkey Vulture, Herring Gull, Royal Tern, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Great Crested Flycatcher, Fish Crow, Brown Thrasher, House Finch, and Northern Cardinal. Even our exotics got in on the action, with new highs for Indian Peafowl, Yellow-chevroned Parakeet, and Orange-winged Parrot. There were a few misses that stung - Least Sandpiper was missed for only the 3rd time in 18 years, Common Ground-Dove for only the 4th time, and no swallows were seen at all (only once before, in 2013). I'm proud that so many birders participated. On the day after Christmas, in this COVID-19 environment, we were able to cover all the major parks, and most minor ones, while maintaining social distancing by eliminating teams, and giving birders smaller areas with distinct target areas so they could be covered solo. We also had people who simply covered neighborhoods, or even just their own yards, adding quality observations. For those who did not see Audubon’s report on last year’s CBC, allow me to quote: “Kendall Area, FL, led the Nation for the first time with the highest counts for 20 species and four exotics.” Quite an accomplishment for our little suburban count! Thank you to all who participated this year: Alex Harper, Alyssa Crittenden, Betty Hernandez, Bonnie Masdeu, Brandon Trentler, Brian Rapoza, Carlos Sanchez, Dan Smyth, Daria Feinstein, Dennis Olle, Eliana Kramer, Frank Ridgely and the Zoo Crew (Angie Gonzalez’ Christina Whelan, Daniel Motiono, Ezequiel Bugallo, Genevive Simon, Grant Fischer, Jessica Klumb, Josephine Whelan, Kevin Whelan, Kibby Treiber, Larry Hambree, Luke Whelan, Mike Perez, Nancy Hambree, Rachael Peck, Russell Martin) Glenn Huberman, Jack Crittenden, James Gersing, Jeanette Alvarez, Jeanette Rawls, Jeanne Kaufman, Joe Barros, Joe Montes De Oca, Judd Patterson, Karen Picciano, Mark Kramer, Marta Magellan, Michelle Davis, Miriam Avello, Noah Frade, Omar Paez, Rangel Diaz, Raul Urguelles, Roberto Torres, Roxanne Featherly, Sally O'Byrne, Silvia Bermudez, Stephen Paez, and Steve Woodmansee. The list: Egyptian Goose 234 Muscovy Duck 885 Mottled Duck 19 Blue-winged Teal 29 Am. Green-winged Teal 3 Ring-necked Duck 6 Red-breasted Merganser 8 Pied-billed Grebe 34 Wood Stork 59 Magnificent Frigatebird CW Double-crested Cormorant 191 Anhinga 29 American White Pelican 34 Brown Pelican 60 Great Blue Heron 41 Great Egret 97 Snowy Egret 8 Little Blue Heron 34 Tricolored Heron 27 Cattle Egret 152 Green Heron 22 Black-crowned Night Heron 1 Yellow-crowned Night Heron 13 White Ibis 2676 Glossy Ibis 19 Black Vulture 503 Turkey Vulture 5146 Osprey 34 Snail Kite 1 Northern Harrier 11 Sharp-shinned Hawk 10 Cooper's Hawk 12 Bald Eagle 9 Red-shouldered Hawk 32 Broad-winged Hawk 7 Short-tailed Hawk 18 Red-tailed Hawk 9 King Rail 3 Common Gallinule 140 American Coot 153 Limpkin 2 American Avocet 1 Black-bellied Plover 5 Semipalmated Plover 16 Killdeer 71 Spotted Sandpiper 11 Solitary Sandpiper 1 Greater Yellowlegs 9 Willet 1 Lesser Yellowlegs 7 Ruddy Turnstone 14 Long-billed Dowitcher 3 Laughing Gull 3049 Ring-billed Gull 256 Herring Gull 80 Lesser Black-backed Gull 201 Great Black-backed Gull 1 Royal Tern 38 Rock Pigeon 271 White-crowned Pigeon 37 Eurasian Collared Dove 246 White-winged Dove 42 Mourning Dove 213 Mangrove Cuckoo 2 Barn Owl 2 Eastern Screech Owl 8 Great Horned Owl 2 Burrowing Owl 2 Barred Owl 1 Eastern Whip-poor-will 3 Ruby-throated Hummingbird 75 Rufous Hummingbird 5 Belted Kingfisher 17 Red-bellied Woodpecker 160 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 32 Downy Woodpecker 5 Northern Flicker 2 Pileated Woodpecker 3 American Kestrel 72 Merlin 4 Peregrine Falcon 2 Monk Parakeet 137 Mitred Parakeet 221 Eastern Phoebe 32 Great Crested Flycatcher 21 Loggerhead Shrike 18 White-eyed Vireo 12 Yellow-throated Vireo 15 Blue-headed Vireo 63 Warbling Vireo 1 Blue Jay 216 Fish Crow 826 House Wren 14 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 621 Red-whiskered Bulbul 5 Gray Catbird 129 Brown Thrasher 4 Northern Mockingbird 316 European Starling 908 Common Myna 8 Cedar Waxwing CW Scaly-breasted Munia 40 Ovenbird 18 Worm-eating Warbler 4 Northern Waterthrush 9 Louisiana Waterthrush 2 Black-and-white Warbler 111 Tennessee Warbler 1 Orange-crowned Warbler 6 Common Yellowthroat 83 American Redstart 69 Cape May Warbler 10 Northern Parula 156 Magnolia Warbler 6 Yellow Warbler 3 Black-throated Blue Warbler 33 Palm Warbler 494 Pine Warbler 97 Yellow-rumped Warbler 389 Yellow-throated Warbler 70 Prairie Warbler 114 Black-throated Green Warbler 11 Wilson's Warbler 1 Grasshopper Sparrow 3 Savannah Sparrow 5 Eastern Towhee 4 Summer Tanager 1 Western Tanager CW Northern Cardinal 171 Painted Bunting 44 Red-winged Blackbird 86 Eastern Meadowlark 9 Common Grackle 529 Boat-tailed Grackle 390 Shiny Cowbird 1 Bronzed Cowbird 1 Spot-breasted Oriole 2 Baltimore Oriole 6 Bullock's Oriole CW House Finch 7 American Goldfinch 2 House Sparrow 91 Domestic Goose 23 Mute Swan 5 Indian Peafowl 89 Yellow-chevroned Parakeet 223 Scaly-headed Parrot 2 Orange-winged Parrot 59 Nanday Parakeet CW Blue-and-Yellow Macaw 15 Chestnut-fronted Macaw 6 Red-masked Parakeet 86 Common Hill Myna 2