Christmas Bird Count 2009: O’Shaughnessy Reservoir

Count Summary

Number of Party Hours: 69.5
Species reported on count date: 76

Our actual species on count day were 73, plus 3 species for count week for a total of 76 species.

The weather was very cold weather for counters and birds alike, with most water areas frozen. We feel that this limited both the number of species and number of individuals. On to next year!

It was special to be able to count a 60 acre private property as an extra area in our circle. Doing so produced two species for the day not seen anywhere else in the circle.

We also noted very high numbers of Horned Larks due to cold and snow cover. As an added treat, we found Lapland Longspurs and two Snow Buntings.

Start Time End Time 07:30 AM 05:15 PM

Effort Observers In Field: Total Number: 37 Minimum Number of Parties (daylight): 12 Maximum Number of Parties (daylight): 12 At Feeders: Total Number: 7 Party Hours and Distance (excludes viewing at feeders and nocturnal birding) All distances are in miles. By Foot : Hours: 19.0 Distance: 21.50 mi By Car : Hours: 50.5 Distance: 426.50 mi Other Time and Distance At Feeders: Hours: 4.5 Nocturnal Birding: Hours:0.5 Distance: .00 mi Totals Total Party : Hours: 69.5 Distance: 448.00 mi

Weather Temperature Minimum: 4 F° Maximum: 18 F° Wind Direction North West Wind Velocity Minimum: 4.0 Maximum: 12.0 Snow Depth Minimum: 3.0 Maximum: 4.0 Still Water Partly Frozen Moving Water Partly Open AM and PM Conditions Cloud Cover AM: Partly Cloudy PM: Cloudy AM Rain None AM Snow Light PM Rain None PM Snow Light

Checklist Species Number or cw Flags Max Number Number of counts Snow Goose (blue form) 7 3 in 108 5 Canada Goose 1969 4431 in 109 46 Tundra Swan 8 3 in 109 2 Wood Duck 2 2 in 87 4 American Black Duck 29 1128 in 60 44 Mallard 307 1367 in 108 49 Northern Pintail 1 20 in 60 9 Canvasback 2 15 in 66 2 Redhead 18 4 in 88 4 Ring-necked Duck 80 130 in 108 2 Lesser Scaup 1 12 in 108 6 Common Goldeneye 8 27 in 60 23 Hooded Merganser 1 68 in 102 28 Ruddy Duck cw 2 in 108 3 Ring-necked Pheasant 1 16 in 62 16 Pied-billed Grebe 1 154 in 108 16 Great Blue Heron (Blue form) 26 60 in 109 37 Turkey Vulture 1 1 in 108 1 Bald Eagle 6 14 in 109 7 Northern Harrier 8 21 in 108 28 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 1 in 109 9 Cooper’s Hawk 12 16 in 108 37 Red-shouldered Hawk 4 6 in 106 15 Red-tailed Hawk 87 81 in 107 46 Rough-legged Hawk 1 4 in 77 12 American Kestrel 25 57 in 94 47 Merlin cw 2 in 109 1 Sandhill Crane cw 4 in 97 1 Ring-billed Gull 216 538 in 109 34 Herring Gull 4 17 in 93 25 Rock Pigeon 387 255 in 106 6 Mourning Dove 355 1013 in 108 48 Great Horned Owl 3 4 in 107 17 Barred Owl 3 5 in 109 10 Belted Kingfisher 3 9 in 107 36 Red-headed Woodpecker 2 12 in 79 11 Red-bellied Woodpecker 89 120 in 109 46 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1 6 in 107 11 Downy Woodpecker 150 113 in 109 49 Hairy Woodpecker 21 28 in 108 40 Northern Flicker 52 31 in 109 6 Pileated Woodpecker 3 8 in 109 14 Blue Jay 272 347 in 108 49 American Crow 231 261 in 102 46 Horned Lark 614 414 in 74 40 Carolina Chickadee 265 251 in 109 49 Tufted Titmouse 115 98 in 109 49 Red-breasted Nuthatch 2 13 in 108 11 White-breasted Nuthatch 72 88 in 109 49 Brown Creeper 16 18 in 106 44 Carolina Wren 12 60 in 107 42 Winter Wren 3 1 in 65 5 Golden-crowned Kinglet 3 21 in 96 33 Eastern Bluebird 107 113 in 107 27 American Robin 1136 858 in 109 31 Gray Catbird 1 1 in 109 2 Northern Mockingbird 11 34 in 75 47 European Starling 4821 6787 in 94 47 Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler 2 10 in 107 15 Eastern Towhee 1 3 in 108 2 American Tree Sparrow 251 431 in 74 48 Fox Sparrow 1 14 in 108 3 Song Sparrow 62 170 in 74 49 Swamp Sparrow 4 21 in 108 7 White-throated Sparrow 47 99 in 109 27 White-crowned Sparrow 11 41 in 90 26 Dark-eyed Junco 341 454 in 106 5 Lapland Longspur 5 3 in 70 3 Snow Bunting 2 30 in 70 4 Northern Cardinal 368 281 in 109 47 Eastern Meadowlark 4 24 in 59 18 Common Grackle 2 800 in 88 22 Purple Finch 5 28 in 83 5 House Finch 209 517 in 108 25 American Goldfinch 242 323 in 108 46 House Sparrow 1101 1281 in 97 48 TOTAL INDIVIDUALS COUNTED 14234 TOTAL SPECIES REPORTED 76 cw = Reported count week; US = Flagged as an unusual species; HC = Flagged as an unusually high count. LC = Flagged as an unusually low count.