Birding Club of Delaware County: 95th Glenolden (Delaware County) CBC report

Hello all. Here is a copy of this year's CBC report. Let me know if you have any questions.

Dave Eberly

david.eberly@gmail.com

Barn Owl - A Bird Not Found on this Year's CBC

Glenolden (Delaware County, Pa) CBC December 20, 2014

The 95th Glenolden Christmas Bird Count, part of the 115th National Audubon Society CBC, was held Saturday, December 20, 2014. Participation in our count remains at gratifyingly high levels. Although down from the unusually high number of 91 participants last year our grand total of 79 participants is still well above the previous 10 year average of about 64 observers. We welcomed 17 new participants to the CBC, also a gratifying number.

Sixty eight field observers covered our circle in 30 parties and 11 participants kept an eye on their feeders. Field observers covered 110 miles in 134 hours by foot and 345 miles in 40 hours by car. We tallied 24,350 birds representing 89 species on count day plus one count week species for a grand total of 90 species. This is identical to last year’s total but below the 10 and 20 year average of around 96-97 species. We added no new members to our all-time list of 194 species.

Many seasoned CBC’ers thought the birds were hiding from us this year as they seemed to be difficult to find. Temperature & overcast skies were blamed along with other theories. Indeed our count of total individuals was below our previous 5 year average of 32,140 if you exclude the outlier year of 2012 when we counted only 18,116 birds in average weather (but had 99 species!!). However the numbers of geese counted can really skew these counts. It turns out our total number of birds counted minus geese was 23,291. This is actually higher than our “minus geese” previous 10 year average of 18,895. I was surprised at this as well so I thought perhaps the common “little brown jobs” were hiding. I calculated a 10 year average of numbers per party hour of white throats + song sparrows and chickadees + titmice. It turns out our numbers this year were basically identical to those averages. Temperature & cloudiness on count day were pretty average as well.

	Total # minus geese/party hr	WTSP + SOSP/party hr	CACH + TUTI/party hr
Prior 10 yr avg	109.48	11.53	4.5
2014	134.24	11	4.2

Uncommon birds of interest included a Red-necked Grebe on Springton Reservoir seen on count week but unable to be located on count day. This species has only been reported once before on our count-in 1960. A single Greater Yellowlegs in the Delco portion of Tinicum is uncommon for our CBC. It has been reported on 11 previous CBCs, last counted in 1992. The ongoing and now repeating Northern Shrike in the Philly section of Tinicum was kind enough to show up on count day. A Northern Saw-whet Owl responded to a species specific recording at Ridley Creek SP. This species has been reported on 28 previous counts with a high number of 4 in 1978. It was last reported in 2012. Common Raven is almost expected now thanks to the nesting pair in Glen Mills.

We missed Northern Shoveler last year. This year we had a high count of 314 beating the previous high of 312 in 2007. A high count was also recorded for Double-crested Cormorant (90). Dark- eyed Juncos seemed fairly abundant to me this year and indeed our count of 1557 was near the historical high.

Red-shouldered Hawks are doing well. Usually found in numbers of 5 or less our count of 13 this year is second only to an outlier count of 15 in 1952. They are indeed on the rise. The cumulative number of Red-shoulders counted on our CBC from 1995 to 2004 was 26; from 2005 to this year that total is 69. Supporting the validity of this increase the 2nd Penna Breeding Bird Atlas (2004-2009) showed a 55% increase in breeding of this species relative to the 1st atlas (1983-1989).

Eastern Bluebirds continue to do well. We counted 129 this year. Our counts in recent years are consistently close to the historical high of 132 in 2005 thanks of course to our active bluebird stewards in the county. Encouraging but not yet a trend was our count of 43 Rusty Blackbirds the highest since 62 in 2008. This is a species of concern nationwide. Our historical high is 400 in 1940.

On the down side we tied the all-time low of 2 Great Horned Owls. Numbers of this species do seem to be trending down. The 2nd Penna Breeding Bird Atlas notes an overall decline in breeding and overall numbers in general of Great Horned Owls. It cites West Nile Virus susceptibility as a possible explanation but expects the species to rebound based on its adaptability.

Northern irruption visitors were improved over last year but still low. We had one Black-capped Chickadee which is one more than last year and just a smattering of Red-breasted Nuthatches, Purple Finches and Pine Siskins.

Species that could be counted as “misses” include Wood Duck, American Wigeon,

Ring-necked Duck, Eastern Phoebe, and American Kestrel

Here is a list of Participants with their years of service. New participants, 5 year anniversaries and those with over 25 years participation are in bold lettering for special recognition. I suspect, no I’m certain, some of the years of service are inaccurate. Please let me know if yours needs to be corrected:

Ellis Akers (43), Marcus Baldwin (2), Gary Becker (11), Brian Bernero (1), Natalie Berry (1), Rob Bierregaard (3), Adrian Binns (2), Jim Bodine (24), Sarah Boucas-Neto (8), Denis Brennan (2), Kevin Browngoehl (1), Tom Bush (2), Ben Bussman (2), Brian Byrnes (6), Henry Cadwalader (1), Donna Chadderton (6), Bruce Childs (3), Skip Conant (31), Bill Cranny (4), Alan Crawford III (6), Alvera Crocetto (40), Nicholas Crocetto (2), Nick Crocetto (40), Cynthia Curry (13), John D’Amico (17), Susan D’Amico (16), Essie Day (1), Don DiPietro (5), Andrew Eberly (10), David Eberly (24), Phyllis Fingerhood (20), Cole Gaboriault (1), Stephanie Gaboriault (4), Jared Griffin (1), Al Guarente (40), Micah Henry (2), Liz Hoffmann (1), Rich Horwitz (26), Bill Howard (3), Lois Hunn (16), Hiroshi Iizuka (3), Letitia Jeavons (4), Ed Johannismeier (1), Kristen Johnson (4), Sheryl Johnson (19), Steve Kapski (20), Virginia Kapski (3), Bob Kelly (6), Dan Kobza (3), Mary Ellen Krober (28), Ann Lane (1), Chris Langman (6), Amy Langman (4), Chelsea Lucas (6), Sue Lucas (7), Dave Luning (2), Dave McDonald (3), Doris McGovern (31), Art McMorris (4), Kathy Meermans (8), Rob Megraw (22), Dolly Mignogna (7), Alison Mostrom (23), Gregg Nichols (1), Damon Orsetti (2), Carl Perretta (25), Jason Porter (3), John Poynton (1), Chris Pugliese (6), Nick Pulcinella (45), Jim Purtill (5), Brian Quindlen (8), Tom Reeves (40), Paulette Rhone (1), Ja’Darius Ross (1), Win Shafer (10), Charles Smith (7), Marilyn Smith (2), Max Smith (1), Gary Stolz (8), Carol Storey (9), Marcia Tate (4), Gloria Todor (9), Pat Trevelino (10), Scott Tuttle (8), Geoff Veith (1), Marlise Wise (1), George Wood (2), George Wrangham (6).

Attached is the final report I submitted to Audubon which includes the complete species list for this year’s count. The columns to the right of the species names merit some explanation. The “Max Number” column lists the historical high number for the species under that common name. The number after the slash is the number of the CBC in which that maximum was recorded. The first CBC was Christmas day 1900; that was count #1. This year’s national count was #115 held in 2014-2015.
The “# of counts column” is supposed to name the number of counts in which that species has been recorded in our circle. Unfortunately for both columns the totals shown are for the species under that common name only! The common names for some species have changed over the years. For example American Robin is listed in only 64 of 94 counts??? The explanation is that for years the species was just listed as “Robin” not “American Robin”. The number on the chart lists the number of times the species was listed under American Robin not the number of counts in which turdus migratorius was recorded. There are multiple other examples of this such as European Starling/Starling, Northern Flicker/ Flicker, American Wigeon/Baldpate, Common Black Duck/Black Duck/Red-legged Black Duck/American Black Duck. It goes on & on rendering those columns basically useless.

For a detailed exploration of historical data for our count and all CBCs I recommend you check out www.christmasbirdcount.org. On the right hand column click “Results, Data, Research” and then again on the right click “Results: Current & Historical” Here, by using our count code, PAGL, you can find a detailed report of our count that provides high counts for all species. You can also explore ours and other counts by species & make nifty graphs of their frequency through the years.

Our CBC is held on the first Saturday of the count period which is December 14 to January 5 every year. Therefore our next Christmas Bird Count will be held on Saturday December 19 2015.

Thank you all once again for your participation, especially my team captains who make my job so much easier. I hope you are all looking forward to next year’s CBC so stay healthy, stay in shape and be ready to get back out there again!

David Eberly

112 S Princeton Ave

Swarthmore, PA 19081

610 543 3499 david.eberly@gmail.com

Count Name:	Delaware County (Glenolden)	Count Code:	PAGL	Count Date:	12/20/2014
Organizations & Sponsors:		# of Party Hours:	173.50	Species reported on count date:	89

Compiler(s)

First Name	Last Name	Email	Is Primary Compiler
David	Eberly	david.eberly@gmail.com	Yes

Start & End Times

Start time	End time
04:30 AM	04:15 PM

Effort

Observers
In Field	Total Number:	68
	Minimum Number of Parties (daylight):	30
	Maximum Number of Parties (daylight):	30
At Feeders	Total Number:	11

Party Hours and Distance (excludes viewing at feeders and nocturnal birding)
By	Hours	Distance		Units
Foot	133.75	110.00		Miles
Car	39.75	345.00		Miles
Air
All-Terrain Vehicle
Bicycle
Dog Sled
Golfcart
Horseback
Motorized Boat
Non-Motorized Boat
Skis/Xc-Skis
Snowmachine
Snowshoe
Wheelchair
Other Time and Distance
	Hours		Distance	Units
At Feeders	42.50

Nocturnal Birding	14.75	38.00	Miles

Total Party	173.50	455.00	Miles

Weather


Temperature	Minimum:	33.0 Fahrenheit	Maximum:	35.0 Fahrenheit
Wind Direction	Northwest
Wind Velocity	Minimum:	6.00 Miles/hour	Maximum:	18.00 Miles/hour
Snow Depth	Minimum:	0.00 Inches	Maximum:	0.00 Inches
Still Water	Partly Frozen
Moving Water	Open

AM and PM Conditions
Cloud Cover	AM:	Cloudy	PM:	Cloudy
AM Rain	None
AM Snow	None
PM Rain	None
PM Snow	None

Checklist

Species	Number or cw	Flags	Max Number	# Of Counts	Editor Comm.
Snow Goose	1059		2115/112	27
Canada Goose	5476		15880/109	64
Tundra Swan	80		172/114	42
Gadwall	78		82/102	42
American Black Duck	117		4700/63	56
Mallard	604		2245/76	81
Northern Shoveler	314	HC,	314/115	49
Northern Pintail	3		13000/68	55
American Green-winged Teal	37		3000/68	27
Bufflehead	11		85/79	68
Hooded Merganser	45		95/114	52
Common Merganser	91		335/90	55
Ruddy Duck	10		20188/57	73
Wild Turkey	5		22/114	8
Pied-billed Grebe	1		24/80	58
Red-necked Grebe	cw		1/61	2
Double-crested Cormorant	90	HC,	90/115	33

Great Cormorant	4		5/97	19
Great Blue Heron (Blue form)	31		96/93	75
Black Vulture	120		191/111	28
Turkey Vulture	84		322/111	71
Bald Eagle Adults: 7 Immatures: 4 Unknowns: 1	12		13/114	35
Northern Harrier	1		33/63	52
Sharp-shinned Hawk	17		45/102	63
Cooper's Hawk	20		26/108	73
Northern Goshawk	1		3/83	20
Red-shouldered Hawk	13		15/52	82
Red-tailed Hawk	70		117/102	94
Merlin	2		3/103	21
Peregrine Falcon	2		3/112	28
Killdeer	4		313/55	82
Greater Yellowlegs	1		8/80	12
Ring-billed Gull	959		4003/84	83
Herring Gull	27		10000/71	89
Great Black-backed Gull	29		220/93	66
Rock Pigeon	538		869/112	12
Mourning Dove	653		1743/93	79
Eastern Screech-Owl	27		66/83	33
Great Horned Owl	2	LC	44/89	56
Northern Saw-whet Owl	1		4/79	29
Belted Kingfisher	14		41/99	73
Red-bellied Woodpecker	154		205/112	58
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	9		21/112	54
Downy Woodpecker	217		262/82	93
Hairy Woodpecker	45		50/108	90
Northern Flicker	41		134/85	8
Pileated Woodpecker	9		17/108	49
Northern Shrike	1		1/115	5
Blue Jay	134		1158/82	88
American Crow	573		4164/93	68
Fish Crow	82		220/70	73
Common Raven	1	US,	1/115	4
Carolina Chickadee	458		1045/82	74
Black-capped Chickadee	1		530/81	73

Tufted Titmouse	276	605/83	90
Red-breasted Nuthatch	7	325/82	68
White-breasted Nuthatch	182	242/83	91
Brown Creeper	29	45/83	88
Carolina Wren	182	401/93	92
Winter Wren	24	40/113	6
Golden-crowned Kinglet	33	123/93	83
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	7	33/73	67
Eastern Bluebird	129	132/106	69
Hermit Thrush	12	29/108	73
American Robin	3135	9867/102	64
Gray Catbird	2	23/85	55
Northern Mockingbird	55	284/83	56
European Starling	2223	19000/71	55
Cedar Waxwing	17	4649/86	69
Yellow-rumped Warbler	6	63/85	8
Eastern Towhee	24	136/112	28
American Tree Sparrow	35	3700/66	64
Chipping Sparrow	4	19/114	43
Field Sparrow	33	320/67	90
Savannah Sparrow	4	68/59	71
Fox Sparrow	11	248/59	85
Song Sparrow	645	3600/67	94
Swamp Sparrow	30	520/66	87
White-throated Sparrow	1265	2926/58	94
Dark-eyed (Slate-colored) Junco	1556	2071/82	80
Northern Cardinal	482	967/89	56
Red-winged Blackbird	398	6300/66	90
Rusty Blackbird	43	400/41	68
Common Grackle	16	9377/95	56
Brown-headed Cowbird	3	1500/71	63
Purple Finch	4	557/78	84
House Finch	240	2673/94	57
Pine Siskin	14	324/78	45
American Goldfinch	317	1400/62	67
House Sparrow	529	1600/72	65
Total Individuals	24350
Total Species Reported	89