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Tuesday, October 7, 2008

2008 Blogger BioBlitz—My Results



Damn! I missed the Blogger BioBlitz—for the second year in a row! Either it wasn’t well publicized or I’ve not been keeping up on things, but most likely it was the latter. Luckily, not all is lost. The official dates for the 2008 Blogger BioBlitz were September 20-28. As it happened, I conducted standardized bird counts on seven days during that period, September 20-26, using a protocol defined by eBird as an “area count.” The area that I surveyed included my yard, adjoining Crescent Lake, adjacent scrubby areas, and a hardwoods forest on the opposite side of the lake. Between 1 and 2 hours were devoted to the daily counts.



Rather than submitting my results in the form of a “datasheet download,” I chose to provide a written summary here. I recorded a total of 55 species (min/day: 14, med: 26, max: 42) and a minimum of 1,874 individuals, or 268/day (min: 69, med: 205, max: 595); 17 species were observed just once during the 7 days, while 21 species were observed on 4 or more days. A detailed species list follows:
  • Canada Goose – 7 days, min. of 152 birds* (30.4/day); max: 65 on 24th

  • Mute Swan – 6 days, 12 birds (2/day, a resident pair)

  • Wood Duck – 6 days, 31 birds (5.2/day); min: 1, med: 5, max: 11 on 21st

  • Mallard – 3 days, 16 birds (5.3/day); max: 7 on 24th

  • Pied-billed Grebe – 1 bird on 25th

  • Double-crested Cormorant – 1 bird on 26th (I watched as this bird flew into and landed on Crescent Lake and then began feeding immediately)

  • Great Blue Heron – 1 bird on each of 4 days (1/day)

  • Great Egret – 1 bird on each of 2 days (25th & 26th)

  • Turkey Vulture – 3 days, 6 birds (2/day); max: 3 on 22nd

  • Red-shouldered Hawk – 3 days, 5 birds (1.7/day); max: 3 on 25th

  • American Coot – 1 bird on 26th

  • Ring-billed Gull – 6 days, 453 birds (75.5/day); min: 1, med: 39.5, max 313 on 25th

  • Mourning Dove – 6 days, 19 birds (3.2/day); min: 2, med: 3.5, max 4 (4 different days)

  • Eastern Screech-Owl – 2 days, 2 birds (1/day, heard calling)

  • Great Horned Owl – 1 bird heard calling on 21st

  • Chimney Swift – 4 days, 35 birds (8.8/day); max: 17 on 24th

  • Ruby-throated Hummingbird – 1 bird on 24th

  • Belted Kingfisher – 1 bird on 26th

  • Red-bellied Woodpecker – 5 days, 11 birds (2.2/day); min: 1, med: 1, max: 6 on 26th

  • Downy Woodpecker – 6 days, 11 birds (2.2/day); min: 1, med: 2, max: 3 on 26th

  • Northern Flicker – 3 days, 16 birds (5.3/day); max: 10 on 26th

  • Olive-sided Flycatcher – 1 bird on 24th

  • Alder Flycatcher – 1 bird on 24th (heard calling)

  • Eastern Phoebe – 6 days, 16 birds (2.7/day); min: 1, med: 1.5, max: 6 on 24th

  • Great Crested Flycatcher – 1 bird on 24th

  • Red-eyed Vireo – 2 days, 3 birds (1.5/day); max: 2 on 26th

  • Blue Jay – 7 days, min. of 109 birds* (21.8/day); min: 15, med: 19, max: 30 on 20th & 24th

  • American Crow – 6 days, minimum of 16 birds^ (4/day); max: 5 on 20th & 24th

  • Northern Rough-winged Swallow – 30 birds on each of 2 days, 21st & 22nd

  • swallow sp. – 2 days, 25 birds (12.5/day); max: 15 on 26th
  • Black-capped Chickadee – 4 days, 4 birds (1/day)

  • Tufted Titmouse – 6 days, 8 birds (1.3/day); min: 1, med: 1, max: 2 on 24th & 26th

  • White-breasted Nuthatch – 7 days, 17 birds (2.4/day); min: 1, med: 2, max: 6 on 24th

  • House Wren – 1 bird on 20th

  • American Robin – 7 days, 240 birds (34.3/day); min: 1, med: 18, max: 110 on 24th

  • Gray Catbird – 6 days, 84 birds (14/day); min: 1, med: 13.5, max: 26 on 26th

  • Brown Thrasher – 4 birds on 26th

  • European Starling – 6 days, 40 birds (6.7/day); min: 1, med: 2, max: 31 on 25th

  • Cedar Waxwing – 3 days, 75 birds (25/day); max: 30 on 20th

  • Magnolia Warbler – 1 bird on 26th

  • Yellow-rumped Warbler – 2 days, 8 birds (4/day); max: 7 on 26th

  • American Redstart – 2 days, 6 birds (3/day); max: 5 on 20th

  • Ovenbird – 2 birds on 24th

  • Common Yellowthroat – 1 bird on 20th

  • Wilson’s Warbler – 1 bird on 26th

  • Eastern Towhee – 2 days, 6 birds (3/day); max: 5 on 24th

  • Chipping Sparrow – 5 days, 78 birds (15.6/day); min: 5, med: 15, max: 23 on 24th

  • White-throated Sparrow – 1 bird on 26th (first of the fall)

  • Northern Cardinal – 7 days, min. of 30 birds** (5/day); min: 2, med: 5, max: 10 on 20th

  • Rose-breasted Grosbeak – 13 birds on 20th

  • Red-winged Blackbird – 3 days, 19 birds (6.3/day); max: 15 on 25th

  • Brown-headed Cowbird – 1 bird on 24th

  • Baltimore Oriole – 3 days, 6 birds (2/day); max: 4 on 24th

  • House Finch – 7 days, min. of 31 birds* (6.2/day); min: 5, med: 7, max: 7 on 3 different days

  • American Goldfinch – 7 days, min. of 180 birds** (30/day); min: 20, med: 30, max: 50 on 26th

  • House Finch – 4 days, 14 birds (3.5/day); max: 10 on 20th

    ^ Numerical estimates were made on only 4 days for this species

    * Numerical estimates were made on only 5 days for this species

    ** Numerical estimates were made on only 6 days for this species


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