2019 May Count

The 2019 count took place on Saturday May 11th. The weather was cool, but generally clear. Twenty-three observers in fourteen parties took to the field clocking a total of 59 miles on foot and another 322 miles in vehicles.

A total of 5982 birds belonging to 129 different species were recorded. The species count was down from last year (133), but better than usual (107 in 2015, 125 in 2013 and 2017, 127 in 2014, and 130 in 2016).

All of the raptor species on the checklist put in an appearance during the day, except for Northern Harrier and Merlin and these are never regulars anyway.

Henry Leskinen had four Wild Turkeys in his territory.

Despite our best efforts, no Virginia Rail or Sora was heard calling in the marsh along Brown Road. The water there was pretty high.

We had a good showing of shorebirds though with Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Solitary Sandpiper, and Least Sandpiper.

Yellow-billed Cuckoos were recorded in two different territories. We dipped on the Black-billed though.

No Great Horned Owls were recorded, however both Screech and Barred made it on the list.

All the expected woodpecker species were present and accounted for as were all the expected thrush vireo, flycatcher, and swallow species.

We recorded 22 warbler species. Misses included Mourning, Magnolia, Bay-breasted, Blackburnian, Canada, and Wilson’s.

The sparrows would have been 100% too were it not for the absent Sanannah Sparrow.

There were some interesting Write-ins. These included Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Purple Finch, Cerulean Warbler, Cape May Warbler, Common Nighthawk, and Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

Thanks to all who counted. Special thanks to Susan and Barb for hosting the Tally Rally.

Now for the top twenty species in terms of numbers:

European Starling	403
Gray Catbird	371
Canada Goose	352
Northern Cardinal	269
Red-winged Blackbird	228
American Robin	207
Barn Swallow	185
Mourning Dove	173
American Crow	165
Blue Jay	143
Chipping Sparrow	140
Red-eyed Vireo	136
Turkey Vulture	135
Wood Thrush	121
American Goldfinch	114
Song Sparrow	106
Common Grackle	102
Black Vulture	96
Carolina Wren	94
Red-bellied Woodpecker	92
House Sparrow	92