After a one week weather delay, the Harlan County Christmas Bird Count (CBC) took place Monday, 21 December. This was the 8th edition of the Harlan County CBC. Previous counts were held in consecutive years from 1996-2001. The CBC resumed in 2014. Weather for 2015 was cloudy and a tad chilly in the morning, but skies cleared, winds became calm and temperature reached the mid 40s in the afternoon. Lake levels were relatively low.
Fourteen observers tallied 82 species. This is above the seven year average of 73, but short of the record of 85 species recorded in 1998 and 1999. CBC highlights are summarized below with a few CBC photos included for good measure.
- New CBC species: An adult Mew Gull was the CBC’s best bird and was also the only species previously unrecorded on the Harlan County CBC. An adult Mew Gull has been seen down around Harlan County Lake the last couple late winters or early springs and I suspect one bird is the source for all of these sightings. A distant shot of this bird is below. The Mew Gull is in the center and is the slightly smaller bird with the slightly darker mantle and the large white tertial crescent compared to the Ring-billed Gulls.
- Almost a new CBC species: I stumbled across a Dickcissel while scouting the area the afternoon before the CBC. Unfortunately, the Dickcissel was not relocated the day of the count. Nevertheless it is a nice count week addition.
- Other count week birds: Northern Shoveler and Canvasback were seen the day before, but not the day of, the CBC.
- Other good CBC birds: California Gull (1), Prairie Falcon (1), Winter Wren (1), Carolina Wren (2), White-throated Sparrow (1), Fox Sparrow (2) and Purple Finch (2).
- Record high counts likely due to mild fall/early winter: Mild weather has apparently allowed a number of birds to linger into this winter. Ruby-crowned Kinglet had only been recorded on one previous Harlan County CBC, but a whopping 10 were found this year. The 220 American Coots trounced the previous high of 49.
- Record high count because sapsuckers are all over: The 4 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers recorded this year beat the previous high of 2 recorded in 2014. Prior to the 2014, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was never recorded on the Harlan County CBC.
- Other record high counts: Overall counts of several species bested previous totals. The 2015 high count is the first number and the previous high count is the second number listed in parenthesis after each species. American Wigeon (6/4), Hooded Merganser (14/7), Wild Turkey (86/15), Northern Harrier (29/18), Cooper’s Hawk (9/3), Red-tailed Hawk (69/53), Eurasian Collared-Dove (142/22), Hairy Woodpecker (6/5), Northern Flicker (85/55), Blue Jay (52/17), Eastern Bluebird (77/45), Meadowlark (476/246), Song Sparrow (53/47) and House Sparrow (319/202).
- Record low counts: The 11 Cackling Geese was one less than the 12 recorded last year. During the first iteration of the CBC, Cackling Goose was considered a subspecies of the Canada Goose and numbers were not recorded.
- Biggest miss: Thayer’s Gull (recorded in 6/7 previous CBCs). Overall gull numbers were way down, likely due to the mild fall.
- Other notable misses: Redhead (4/7), Glaucous Gull (3/7), Townsend’s Solitaire (3/7), Rusty Blackbird (5/7), Common Grackle (3/7) and Brown-headed Cowbird (5/7).
- Notable misses considering the weather: I had expectations we’d tally additional lingering species due to the relatively mild fall weather. However, we failed to record any loons, grebes or shorebirds (including Killdeer) and only recorded small numbers of Great Blue Heron (1), Double-crested Cormorant (4) and American White Pelican (1).
- Biggest absence: Making the distinction, here, between a species present but not detected and one not present. Black-billed Magpie was recorded on all previous Harlan County CBCs. During the first iteration (1996-2001), an average 24 were recorded. Last year, only 3 were found. None were found this year, unfortunately. This species has been declining in Nebraska for over a decade and is disappearing from areas.
- Another notable absence: Despite a coordinated pre-dawn owling effort, Barred Owl once again eluded CBC’ers. Harlan County is at the western edge of the species’ range and I (and others) have suspected this species is present in the count circle. However, it has yet to turn up.
Pine Siskin (fore) and American Goldfinch
The overall species list
Greater White-fronted Goose
Snow Goose
Ross’s Goose
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Shoveler (CW)
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback (CW)
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Northern Bobwhite
Ring-necked Pheasant
Greater Prairie-Chicken
Wild Turkey
American White Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Double-crested Cormorant
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
American Kestrel
Merlin
Prairie Falcon
American Coot
Bonaparte’s Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Mew Gull
California Gull
Herring Gull
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
Eastern Screech-Owl
Great Horned Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Northern Shrike
Blue Jay
American Crow
Horned Lark
Black-capped Chickadee
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Carolina Wren
Winter Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Lapland Longspur
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Spotted Towhee
American Tree Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln’s Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Harris’s Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Dickcissel (CW)
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Meadowlark (sp.)
Purple Finch
House Finch
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
Many thanks to the 14 participants of the 8th Harlan County CBC.
Good birding!