Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Chelan Bird Count reaches record low species number

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CHELAN – How many of you remember Dec. 29, that last Friday in 2017 when a temperature inversion initially produced freezing rain that changed to persistent snow that yielded 3” of accumulation throughout the day?
This was the date that had been set for Chelan’s Christmas Bird Count (CBC) sponsored by National Audubon Society, out of a window of possible dates from Dec. 15 to Jan. 5.  It was Chelan’s 29th annual CBC since its inception in 1989.
Ten hardy bird counters had gathered at the Apple Cup Café at 7 a.m. and were discussing whether to wait for a date with more acceptable weather.  Assuming the weather would certainly improve during the day, we went ahead with the count.  Little did we know that the day would remain foggy and snowy.
There are over 2,300 Christmas Bird Counts in North America each year, each CBC comprising a circle 15 miles in diameter.  Our circle is centered about one mile north of the new roundabout on the Chelan-Manson Highway.  It encompasses Lake Chelan State Park and the Manson area on the west, to the Columbia River and lower McNeil Canyon on the east; and from Antoine Creek on the north to Stayman Flats on the south.
Our circle is divided into seven areas.  Usually we have at least two counters per area, but with only 10 total counters there were only three areas that had two counters.
Between the foggy conditions and the snowfall, by the end of the day we could only identify 62 bird species, considerably less than our previous low of 67 set in 1993.  But at least some of us were able to make up that difference by finding five other species during Count Week, which comprises the three days before and three days after Count Day.
The total count of individual birds was 7748, far below the 29-year average of 10,140 but at least above the record low of 4460 set in 1989.  In fact, seven years had seen individual counts lower than in 2017.
Notable for particularly low counts were: horned grebe, great blue heron, canvasback, hooded merganser, ring-billed gull, northern flicker, black-capped chickadee, American robin, and northern shrike.  We could muster up only 10 of the beloved American robins, which has averaged about 200 and in year 2001 yielded 1,055.
Conversely, American coots were considerably higher than normal.  And, as has happened every year since the Eurasian collared-dove first made its appearance in 2010, its count broke the previous year’s count and now stands at 220.
We had one other record-breaker, the spotted towhee at 13:  only one more bird than the previous record, but still an impressive showing given the weather conditions.
Anyone desiring full count results can call or email me (Steve Easley).  Also, North American count results reaching back to 1900 are available on Audubon’s website, www.audubon.org.
The next Chelan CBC is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 28, 2018.  
Contact Steve Easley at (509)682-2318, seasley@nwi.net; or Dan Smith at (509)682-9653 ptsnorth@flymail.net to learn how to sign up to volunteer.

Chelan, birds, counts

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