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Christmas Bird Count

Hello All,

I wanted to convey my thanks to all who helped out on our WPCBC count on Dec 30th.

I hope you all saw some new or interesting birds that day and I wanted to let you know that because of your help our total numbers are impressive again this year.
We had 54 people in the field and received 25 backyard reports.
Our species total is 171, with a total of 53,500 birds seen! (+two count week birds)

This year we added two new species to our circle bird list. Coincidentally we found two each of the new two species. Two Painted Bunting males were seen at two different feeders about 4 miles apart. I have attached a photo of mine from Lake Lisa Park of a Painted Bunting, as one of the sightings was approx 2 blocks from that park.
The other new species was of two Saltmarsh Sparrows. One was found by Dave Gagne's team along Strauber Memorial Hwy the other was found by John Mangold out in the state park; his photo is attached.
I also attached John's photo of one of the Seaside Sparrow he found count day, at first glance I thought "Dusky" Seaside Sparrow because of it's very dark coloring! Of course we know that subspecies is extinct. Jon Greenlaw has looked at the photo and says this coloring is near typical for Scott's, although it is certainly one of the darkest birds I have seen out there.
The first big boat trip for the count was very successful with 29 birders going out. They took hundreds of photos and in those we did find a Great Black-backed Gull. Our record numbers of 175 Common Loons and 160 Horned Grebes were a direct result of the trip. Outstanding was the 16 American Oystercatchers found by the boat on the piers in the Cotee River, a bird we sometimes miss because of no access to those resting piers.
Our backyard feeder reports were responsible for 3 species in our count total. Painted Bunting, Hummingbird species, and Budgerigar.
The apparent trend of fewer Bachman's Sparrows, only 2 this year from Serenova, may mean that the southern part of the Starkey Wilderness area no longer has good nesting territory for that once reliable Pine Flatwood species that could be found almost to the Education Center.
From our own Starkey Ranch territory I noticed that some ranching practices can have a lot to do with the quantity of bird species found. The Starkey ranch pastures were overgrown with weeds and grasses from 2 to 7 feet tall. Our high counts of Eastern meadowlark, Grasshopper Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, and even the two Vesper Sparrows would have not been there if the pastures had been mowed.
When I looked at our previous count year of 2005 when we had 171 species I was struck by the big difference in the quantity of birds then, only 11,400 compared to our 53,500 this year. The big counts of birds this year are a result of the great increases in Yellow-rumped Warbler, Tree Swallow, and American Robin.
Some other species that achieved all time count highs were Wild Turkey 110, Anhinga 300, Common Gallinule 380, Sandhill Crane 190, and Northern Cardinal 200.
The apparent trend of Northern Rough-winged Swallows wintering further north was confirmed when Dave Goodwin's team found 3 of them.

Thanks again for your time and help.

Ken Tracey

http://www.islandparadisecharters.com/boat.htm

Participate in the Christmas Bird Count !

You don't know many birds but what to join in the fun. No problem, you don't need to be a bird nerd to join in.
People are needed to record the bird counts. And the more people looking for birds the more will be seen.
You can be added to a team along with an experienced birder who can identify what you see.
Then you can participate and enjoy the fun and excitement of this wonderful one day bird scavenger hunt.
Not able to get out ? Well you can still participate. Just count the birds you see in your back yard and around your feeder all day.
Count the most birds you see at one time. If you see one Cardinal at the feeder 15 times it is still only one bird.
If you see two Cardinals at once then the count is two.
Then turn in your report to Ken Tracey( kftracey@verizon.net ) or Mike Kell ( jmkell@verizon.net ) in the week following.

Gulf Park -- Key Vista walk Nov 19, 2011

PascoEcoFest Bird Walk this morning.
Perfect weather for our morning walk at Gulf Park to Key Vista.
Magnificent views of Horn Grebe's were the highlight for me.

42 species observed plus one owl heard but not identified:
Osprey, Northern Harrier, American Bald Eagle, Double Crested Cormorant, Royal Tern, Caspian Tern, Laughing Gull, Herring Gull, Great Blue Heron, Wood Stork
Blue Jay, Pie Billed Grebe, Brown Pelican, Willet, Sanderling, Semi Palmated Plover, Western SandPiper, Least Sandpiper, Dunlin, Little Blue, Tri Color Heron, White Ibis, Oyster Catcher, Whimbrel, Pie Billed Grebe, Horned Grebe, Great Egret, Towhee, N Mocking Bird, N. Cardinal, Yellow Rumped Warbler, Downy Woodpecker, Red Bellied Woodpecker, Swamp Sparrow, Chickadee, Palm Warbler, Yellow Crowned Heron, Black Capped Night Heron, Belted Kingfisher, Mourning Dove, Rock Pigeon, Turkey Vulture

Werner Boyce Walk 11/12/11
Birds were fairly active at the Scenic Dr. entrance to Werner Boyce Springs state park.
Seven people joined us for this mornings cool walk. This birds list was fairly good with a Yellow Bellied Sapsucker being the most unusual species. 47 species total and a good show of warblers across street in parking lot while we waited on the park to open. Later a drive down to Brasher park at low tide with lots of wading birds.
Seen:
Red Shouldered Hawk
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
Red-winged Blackbird
Boattailed Grackle
Common Grackle
Mourning Dove
Yellow-rumped Warbler (lots)
Palm Warbler
Black and White Warbler
Common YellowThroat Warbler
Blue Gray Gnatcatcher
Northern Cardinal
House Wren
Carolina Wren
Swamp Sparrow
Gray Catbird
American Crow
Fish Crow
Red Bellied Woodpecker
Downey Woodpecker
Yellow Bellied Sapsucker
Blue Jay
N Mocking Bird
Loggerhead Shrike
Belted Kingfisher
Mallard
Muscovey
Common Moorhen
Pie billed Grebe
Woodstork
Anhinga
Double Crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
White Ibis
Tricolor Heron
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Willet
Brown Pelican
Laughing Gull
Ring Billed Gull
Osprey
Red Shouldered Hawk
Kestrel
Turkey Vulture

Kelp Gull
We now have conformation on a black-backed gull that was seen on our CBC, is a Kelp Gull!

Dec 28th 2010 Christmas Bird Count

Report

Although Ken Tracey continues to track down reports of two extreme rarities, he and I have more or less finalized the results of the 22nd West Pasco CBC. The CBC circle includes much of western Pasco County and slivers of extreme northern Pinellas County (not surveyed because of overlap with the North Pinellas CBC) and extreme northwestern Hillsborough County. The CBC was originally called the New Port Richey CBC and was begun in 1966, but I changed its name when I became compiler in 1989.

In contrast to some other CBCs I have participated in this year, the weather cooperated all day, although it was 24 degrees at dawn and many landscapes were quite frosty (see attached photos from within the longleaf pine flatwoods of J.B. Starkey Wilderness Park). As compiler, I had the rare treat of recording "still water partly frozen" in the Weather section.

Thanks to Ken Tracey for organizing the parties and for dozens of hours of scouting over the past few months, and to all 55 participants, especially party leaders and/or those who traveled from outside the county.

The tentative totals -- pending Bruce Anderson's review of the rarities -- are 170 "countable" species, one "uncountable" exotic (Common Peafowl), two count-week species (American Redstart and Pine Siskin), and 55,121 individuals. The species total may well turn out to be the highest obtained in Florida during this CBC season.

There were many highlights, most notably the first West Pasco CBC -- AND THE FIRST COUNTY -- record of White-faced Ibis, a first-year bird that Ken found at Trinity on 22 July and that has been seen and photographed by many observers subsequently. Other rarities (seen on 5 or fewer previous CBCs) were Canvasback (twice), Greater Scaup (once), Short-tailed Hawk (once), Lesser Black-backed Gull (5 times), Great Black-backed Gull (thrice), Barn Owl (once), Northern Waterthrush (4 times), and White-crowned Sparrow (once).

The biggest misses (reported on at least 11 of the previous 21 West Pasco CBCs) were Budgerigar (never missed since 1966 until last year and now seemingly extirpated from the CBC circle), Northern Bobwhite (reported 18 times), Vesper Sparrow (15 times), Wilson's Plover (14 times), Florida Scrub-Jay (13 times, but extirpated since 2005), Nelson's Sparrow (13 times), Baltimore Oriole (12 times), and American Pipit (11 times).

The complete West Pasco CBC results for the 111th CBC season are below (hopefully the columns won't be mangled beyond recognition):

SPECIES    TOTALS

(large forms) Canada Goose    6
Muscovy Duck    190
Wood Duck    42
Gadwall    6
American Wigeon    42
Mallard    285
Mottled Duck    210
Blue-winged Teal    120
Northern Shoveler    26
Northern Pintail    1
Green-winged Teal    52
Canvasback    3
Redhead    600
Ring-necked Duck    100
Greater Scaup    4
Lesser Scaup    285
Bufflehead    9
Hooded Merganser    400
Red-breasted Merganser    97
Ruddy Duck    10
Common Peafowl    [1]
Wild Turkey    93
Common Loon    75
Pied-billed Grebe    225
Horned Grebe    29
American White Pelican    1
Brown Pelican    175
Double-crested Cormorant    2,500
Anhinga    170
American Bittern    3
Least Bittern    1
Great Blue Heron (Blue form)    150
Great Egret    700
Snowy Egret    250
Little Blue Heron    400
Tricolored Heron    300
Reddish Egret    3
Cattle Egret    115
Green Heron    8
Black-crowned Night-Heron    23
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron    17
White Ibis    2,000
Glossy Ibis    112
White-faced Ibis    1
Roseate Spoonbill    17
Wood Stork    300
Black Vulture    475
Turkey Vulture    400
Osprey    60
Bald Eagle    36
     adult    [20]
     immature    [16]
Northern Harrier    6
Sharp-shinned Hawk    4
Cooper's Hawk    20
Red-shouldered Hawk    90
Short-tailed Hawk    1
Red-tailed Hawk    21
American Kestrel    32
Merlin    1
Black Rail    1
Clapper Rail    52
King Rail    4
Virginia Rail    8
Sora    22
Common Moorhen    345
American Coot    445
Limpkin    3
Sandhill Crane    135
Black-bellied Plover    10
Semipalmated Plover    48
Killdeer    280
American Oystercatcher    3
Spotted Sandpiper    5
Greater Yellowlegs    16
Willet    69
Lesser Yellowlegs    4
Whimbrel    2
Marbled Godwit    5
Ruddy Turnstone    22
Sanderling    1
Western Sandpiper    3
Least Sandpiper    53
Dunlin    50
Short-billed Dowitcher    9
Wilson's Snipe    33
American Woodcock    1
Laughing Gull    1,100
Bonaparte's Gull    32
Ring-billed Gull    1,000
Herring Gull    41
Lesser Black-backed Gull    1
Great Black-backed Gull    1
Caspian Tern    6
Forster's Tern    36
Royal Tern    56
Sandwich Tern    1
Black Skimmer    38
Rock Pigeon    200
Eurasian Collared-Dove    100
White-winged Dove    9
Mourning Dove    350
Common Ground-Dove    50
Monk Parakeet    30
Black-hooded Parakeet    18
Barn Owl    1
Eastern Screech-Owl    7
Great Horned Owl    7
Barred Owl    8
Eastern Whip-poor-will    1
Hummingbird species    2
Belted Kingfisher    64
Red-headed Woodpecker    8
Red-bellied Woodpecker    124
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker    12
Downy Woodpecker    38
Hairy Woodpecker    2
Northern (Yellow-shafted) Flicker    3
Pileated Woodpecker    20
Eastern Phoebe    73
Loggerhead Shrike    15
White-eyed Vireo    14
Blue-headed Vireo    9
Blue Jay    95
American Crow    300
Fish Crow    450
Tree Swallow    2,500
Carolina Chickadee    78
Tufted Titmouse    150
Brown-headed Nuthatch    31
Carolina Wren    93
House Wren    75
Sedge Wren    36
Marsh Wren    12
Ruby-crowned Kinglet    32
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher    67
Eastern Bluebird    115
Hermit Thrush    8
American Robin    28,000
Gray Catbird    190
Northern Mockingbird    116
Brown Thrasher    4
European Starling    175
Cedar Waxwing    23
Orange-crowned Warbler    9
Northern Parula    3
Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler    2,300
Yellow-throated Warbler    5
Pine Warbler    200
Prairie Warbler    5
Palm Warbler    625
American Redstart    cw
Black-and-white Warbler    16
Ovenbird    4
Northern Waterthrush    6
Common Yellowthroat    150
Eastern Towhee    67
Bachman's Sparrow    9
Chipping Sparrow    71
Savannah Sparrow    150
Grasshopper Sparrow    7
Seaside Sparrow    1
Song Sparrow    2
Swamp Sparrow    190
White-crowned Sparrow    1
Northern Cardinal    130
Red-winged Blackbird    600
Eastern Meadowlark    20
Common Grackle    650
Boat-tailed Grackle    400
Brown-headed Cowbird    400
House Finch    29
Pine Siskin    cw
American Goldfinch    51
House Sparrow    62

TOTAL SPECIES    170
TOTAL INDIVIDUALS    55,121


MILES CAR    720.0
MILES FOOT    59.0
MILES GOLF CART    2.0
HOURS CAR    53.5
HOURS FOOT    105.5
HOURS GOLF CART    3.0
OWLING MILES    38.0
OWLING HOURS    6.5
FEEDER HOURS    17.0

Best regards,

Bill Pranty
Bayonet Point, Florida
West Pasco CBC compiler

Have a safe summer!

Happy birding!

***

Aug 11, 2009
Hi all,
A number of West Pasco Audubon members joined the Native Plant Society last night for very interesting presentation on Operation Migration, by Sue Walsh from Hernando. Operation Migration raises American Whooping Cranes from eggs, trains them to follow ultralight planes, and escorts them flying from Wisconsin down to Florida (St Marks and Chassahowitzka refuges) for the winter. The young birds winter here, then fly back north in spring, on their own, having learned the route following the ultralight planes. Find more info on this non-profit organization and the project at the Operation Migration site--reached through the "Give a Whoop" link below. Through efforts of a huge team, linked with several other international crane preservation organizations, the eastern migratory population of Whooping Cranes has increased from just 16 birds to 78--of mixed genetic diversity. It is anticipated that within 4 - 5 years from now, there will be enough of a sustainable breeding migrating population to stop the Operation Migration project. It shows what dedication can do, on the part of people and groups working completely outside government support. Of course it is expensive, so donations are solicited. "Give A Whoop" is the current campaign, which also offers some great prizes for donating.

Yearly, individuals and groups sponsor "miles" along the migration route. This year a mile costs just under $200. Find out more on the web site. The most interesting page is "Field Journal"--a daily log of the training, progress and anecdotes about the current crane chicks, and the flight itself which usually starts in October.

There is also a new "Cranecam" so you can see live action!

Click here to Check it out!

>From a "Certified Craniac",
Maria Valentine

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Interesting short article on demographics of birders.
Maria

Click here
or
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/augSBC09.html#TOC02
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spring Migration Count
May 9th

I have tallied our May 9th Migration count. Thanks to all who submitted your reports.

This count we had the second highest numbers of birds 3906, our participation was up with 20 people submitting reports. The species number at 112 was our lowest?

Some missed birds were; Red-headed Woodpecker, Monk Parakeet, Budgerigar, Royal Tern, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Black-necked Stilt, and Reddish Egret. Also of note were some high species counts; Northern Cardinal, Wood Stork, Tufted Titmouse. Take time to look over the data sheet on the count page. (See link below)

Thanks again for your help. Mike has added this pdf file to our web page.

PDF File

Countsheet

Ken Tracey

Great Backyard Bird Count Highlights
Dynamic Changes in Where the Birds Are

GBBC Report

Bird Identification

A York University researcher has tracked the migration of songbirds by outfitting them with tiny geolocator backpacks –

a world first – revealing that scientists have underestimated their flight performance dramatically.

Read Report HERE

I have added a link to Hernando County Audubon website in our Links page.
Check their schedule for additional activities you might want to attend.
Mike Kell

2008 Christmas Bird Count - Preliminary Report: PDF Count List

I have attached our history spreadsheet that includes our preliminary numbers from the count on Jan 2nd.

The 174 species will be a new record for our count and the 53,558 total birds comes in at the second highest ever. We had 62 people in the field, a new record, with 14 feeder reports, a low number?

New birds for the count are White-winged Scoter, Short-tailed Hawk, and White-crowned Sparrow. Rare finds include Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Henslow's Sparrow, and Lincolns Sparrow. Missed were a hummingbird (cw), American White Pelican, American Bittern, Black Rail, Red Knot, Sandwich Tern, and Vesper Sparrow.

These numbers and birds are subject to review, but these high numbers reflect all the effort the participants contributed and I want to thank you all. A special thanks also goes out to Jean, Cindy, Laurie, and Linda who made memorable food and worked hard to give us a great dinner at the final countdown.

Ken Tracey

Local Conservation Success! Pasco Palms