50th Annual Captree Christmas Bird Count

Sunday, December 18th, 2011

Recap courtesy of Shai Mitre

The Captree CBC was conducted for the 50th time on 18 December 2011. In the weeks and days leading up to the count, I spoke with both of the count's founders, Joe Horowitz and Guy Tudor, who shared some thoughts on the origins of this count back in December 1962. Neither was able to join us on Sunday, but we hope they’ll be pleased to know that the tradition is still going strong.

We recorded 116 species, which is about average for recent years:

• 1 Black Rail (see below)
• 1 Black-legged Kittiwake (Fire Island, 30th time recorded)
• 1 Chipping Sparrow (Heckscher, 22nd time recorded)
• 1 Great Egret (Seatuck, 10th time recorded)
• 1 House Wren (Seatuck, fourth time recorded)
• 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull (Gardiner, fifth time recorded)
• 1 Marsh Wren (Heckscher, 30th time recorded)
• 1 Pine Warbler (Fire Island, 10th time recorded)
• 1 Red-necked Grebe (Fire Island, 18th time recorded)
• 1 Seaside Sparrow (Heckscher, 23rd time recorded, but just the first since Dec 2002)
• 1 Short-eared Owl (Jones, 36th time recorded)
• 1 Snow Goose (Connetquot, 35th time recorded)
• 1 Snowy Owl (Fire Island, 19th time recorded)
• 1 Vesper Sparrow (Fire Island, 9th time recorded)
• 2 American Bittern (Jones, Heckscher, 37th time recorded)
• 2 Brown Thrasher (Fire Island, 37th time recorded)
• 2 Monk Parakeet (North, third time recorded)
• 2 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Seatuck, East; 22nd time recorded)
• 3 Cackling Goose (Belmont, Seatuck, Connetquot; third time recorded)
• 3 Great Horned Owl (North, Gardiner, 35th time recorded)
• 3 Greater Yellowlegs (Gardiner, 22nd time recorded)
• 3 Merlin (Jones, Heckscher; 30th time recorded)
• 4 American Pipit (Heckscher, 27th time recorded)
• 4 Common Merganser (Seatuck, 24th time recorded)
• 4 Razorbill (Fire Island,16th time recorded)
• 4 Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Fire Island, Seatuck, Heckscher; 36th time recorded)
• 4 Western Palm Warbler (Fire Island, Heckscher, 27th time recorded)
• 5 Eastern Bluebird (Heckscher, 16th time recorded)
• 5 Wood Duck (Belmont, Gardiner, East; 37th time recorded)
• 7 Peregrine Falcon (five areas, 27th time recorded)
• 8 Cedar Waxwing (North, East; 26th time recorded)
• 75 Redhead (our max count; Gardiner)
• 460 Fish Crow (more than three times American Crow total)

On the down side, we finally missed Canvasback, for the first time ever, after a steady decline over several decades (this count used to record 1,000+ back in the 1970s).

Northern Pintail was another painful miss (just the fifth ever), but not surprising in view of recent trends.

No Gallinaceous birds were found, despite repeated, massive dumps of baby quail at several sites within the circle in recent years.

American Kestrel was missed for the fifth time ever, but for the fourth time in the last 12 years.

Killdeer was missed for the 12th time.

Red-breasted Nuthatch was missed for just the third time ever, evidence of the species’ scarcity in the region this winter.

Ipswich Savannah Sparrow was missed for the 13th time.

Eastern Meadowlark was missed for just the fifth time ever, but for the fourth time in the last nine years.

Other blackbirds were also a weak point on this year’s count, with four reasonably expectable species missed (only Red-wing was found).

Finally, finches were completely absent, except for House and Goldfinch.

A Black Rail was reported from a mainland site where they have been reported in prior years (never before on the CBC), but where crepuscular and nocturnal access is limited. I’m aware that interest in this species is intense among birders (it would be a lifebird for me, too!), but the finders and I agree that discretion is desirable, at the very least until we have a chance to discuss matters with the managers of the property.

Shai Mitra
Bay Shore

The Captree CBC was conducted Sunday, December 19th, 2010 on a very pleasant winter day for birding.

A couple of bouts of sustained cold prior to the count produced extensively frozen conditions, including portions of Great South Bay, and quite a few ice-sensitive species were scarce or absent.

Highlights among the 119 species tallied included the following:

Many thanks to all who participated!

Patricia Lindsay & Shai Mitra
Bay Shore