The Delaware Reservoir Christmas Bird count for 2013 may have been one of the snowiest and coldest, but it was a great success bird wise! We tallied 18, 570 individuals of 78 species. This is the highest species total ever for our count. The previous high species total was a tie at 72 between 2009 and 2010. Our species total has ranged from 47 to 78.
There were a number of rare birds located during the count. Ben Warner’s group (Ben, Kelly Ball, Lauren Blyth, and Karl Mechem) found our only Killdeer (doubtless a chilly one), 6 American Pipits, a Wilson’s Snipe, a Brown Thrasher, and an American Coot! Ed Lux’s group (Ed & Dan Lux) also had an American Pipit. Possibly the most thrilling birds were flocks of Sandhill Cranes, always a treat. Kirsten Lehtoma and Steve Weate saw two flocks merge, a combined 100 birds. Ten minutes later Dan Fink’s group (Dan, Cody, and Colleen Fink, Ramon Carreno, Emily Johnson, and Cody Kent) saw a flock of 39. Because the Fink party found theirs only 10 minutes later and just about 5 miles south of where Kirsten’s group had theirs, combined with the direction of flight and the fact that Kirsten’s group had seen two smaller flocks join as they watched, I’m tempted to surmise that the Fink party birds were part of that same larger flock, perhaps split for a second time.
Other unusual finds were a Double-crested Cormorant, reported by both Dan Bobb’s and Jim Peoples’ groups, a lone Northern Bobwhite and a Northern Shrike by Dan Fink’s group. The cormorant was below Delaware Dam (for second year in a row). My group (myself, Amy Tovar and Bob Klips) was treated to a pair of Winter Wrens foraging along an icy edge of a feeder creek near the upper end of Alum Creek Reservoir. They were actually out in the open, briefly, but long enough for the entire party to get a glimpse of at least one. Bill Heck’s group had a Field Sparrow (a rare winter bird), and Jed Burtt’s group had an even more unusual winter Chipping Sparrow. Along with Fox sparrows reported by 3 groups, and 24 Swamp Sparrows we had an excellent sparrow day (8 species).
The list of species:
| Double-crested Corm. | 1 |
| Great Blue Heron | 47 |
| Tundra Swan | 11 |
| Canada Goose | 2616 |
| American Black Duck | 48 |
| Mallard | 1109 |
| Common Goldeneye | 1 |
| Hooded Merganser | 26 |
| Northern Harrier | 11 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 2 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 8 |
| Bald Eagle | 10 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 1 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 31 |
| Buteo sp. | 1 |
| Merlin | 1 |
| American Kestrel | 16 |
| American Coot | 1 |
| Sandhill Crane | 139 |
| Ring-necked Pheasant | 2 |
| Wild Turkey | 15 |
| Northern Bobwhite | 1 |
| Wilson’s Snipe | 1 |
| Killdeer | 1 |
| Bonaparte’s Gull | 1 |
| Ring-billed Gull | 224 |
| gull sp. | 2 |
| Rock Pigeon | 70 |
| Mourning Dove | 650 |
| E. Screech Owl | 5 |
| Gr. Horned Owl | 4 |
| Barred Owl | 1 |
| Long-eared Owl | 1 |
| Belted Kingfisher | 6 |
| Red-headed Woodpecker | 8 |
| Red-bellied Woodpecker | 83 |
| Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | 3 |
| Downy Woodpecker | 84 |
| Hairy Woodpecker | 19 |
| Northern (Yellow-shafted) Flicker | 41 |
| Pileated Woodpecker | 4 |
| Horned Lark | 2031 |
| Blue Jay | 206 |
| American Crow | 115 |
| chickadee sp. | 158 |
| Carolina Chickadee | 3 |
| Tufted Titmouse | 56 |
| White-breasted Nuthatch | 108 |
| Brown Creeper | 24 |
| Carolina Wren | 39 |
| Winter Wren | 2 |
| Golden-cowned Kinglet | 36 |
| Eastern Bluebird | 67 |
| American Robin | 868 |
| Northern Mockingbird | 9 |
| Brown Thrasher | 1 |
| American Pipit | 7 |
| Cedar Waxwing | 13 |
| European Starling | 6620 |
| Northern Shrike | 1 |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler | 31 |
| Northern Cardinal | 236 |
| Eastern Towhee | 7 |
| Am. Tree Sparrow | 425 |
| Fox Sparrow | 4 |
| Field Sparrow | 1 |
| Chipping Sparrow | 1 |
| Song Sparrow | 87 |
| Swamp Sparrow | 24 |
| White-throated Sparrow | 137 |
| White-crowned Sparrow | 40 |
| Dark-eyed Junco | 645 |
| Lapland Longspur | 339 |
| Snow Bunting | 18 |
| Red-winged Blackbird | 5 |
| Rusty Blackbird | 7 |
| Common Grackle | 31 |
| Brown-headed Cowbird | 5 |
| House Finch | 100 |
| American Goldfinch | 228 |
| House Sparrow | 528 |
I want to thank all of the dedicated observers, and particularly the group leaders for their careful documentation of their sightings. Maybe we can break 80 next year!