This is the recap of the 2nd Annual Rock Cut Christmas Bird Count (CBC) of which the Birdfreak Team coordinates and compiles. The event took place on January 3rd, 2010 and was frigid but sunny. This post was delayed due to Birdfreak having his wisdom teeth removed which apparently took a bit of his wisdom with 🙂
Considering the cold temperatures and a sizable decline in counters (11 instead of 19 last year) it is no surprise that we had less birds and species. However, Birdfreak’s fiancee, Stacia, participated in her first CBC which definitely added to the fun of the event. And three of our counters were in Ohio!
- Total Species: 44 (47 last year)
- Total Individuals: 3,637 (almost 12,000 last year)
Water conditions (mostly frozen) played a huge role in the decline of birds as well: Canada Geese were down over 6,300!!
But we still had some wonderful highlights including 11 brand new species:
- Common Goldeneye
- Lapland Longspur
- Peregrine Falcon
- Owl Sp.
- Purple Finch
- Rough-legged Hawk
- Snow Bunting
- Ring-necked Pheasant
- Red-headed Woodpecker
- Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
- Pileated Woodpecker
We counted all SEVEN species of woodpeckers in our area (outside a major rarity)! We found three Pileated Woodpeckers at Rock Cut State Park (the count’s namesake) which is becoming a really reliable place to find this awesome bird.
It was too cold for photography so hopefully next year we’ll have warmer temperatures, more counters, and more birds.
We’re back up to 70F here now, thankfully. If anything, it’s now warmer than normal…but I’ll take it!
Cool on the woodpeckers! There’s only one species we haven’t seen in our own yard…I can’t think of the name now…probably the red cockaded, which are rare to begin with.