Lancaster County Bird Club
preservation of our native bird life.
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Lancaster County Bird Club |
| Lancaster, Pennsylvania | |
| Founded December 8, 1937 | |
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to secure the cultivation of public sentiment in the preservation of our native bird life. |
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This is the tenth edition of the Research Issue. It represents the field activities conducted by the Lancaster County Bird Club within the county. This issue reflects the Club's commitment to documenting the county's birdlife. It shows the dedication and hard work of many of our members in pursuit of this goal. Since the gathering of this information is usually great fun for those participating, I would encourage all Club members to take advantage of the Club's activities to get out and enjoy the county's birds and thus assist in the compilation of this data.
This year's issue includes the following reports:
On Saturday, May 8, 1999, Lancaster County again participated in the eighth annual North American Migration Count. This marked the fourth year in a row in which Lancaster County contributed to this annual event. The three Warbler Walk areas were again included, along with other areas such as Octoraro Lake, Susquehanna River Conejohela Flats, areas of northwestern and northeastern parts of the county, Chickies Rock County Park, and Susquehannock State Park.
Forty people were in the field, identifying 171 species. This species total marked the highest total for Lancaster County in the four years of doing this count.
Weather information is as follows: Temperatures ranged from the mid-50s to the low 60s during the morning hours and topped out in the mid-70s by mid-afternoon. Thunderstorms, rain, and showers were scattered throughout the County from early morning until early afternoon. A cold front passed through the County during this time and the rest of the day became partly sunny and breezy. Winds were east to southeast before the frontal passage, then changed to mainly westerly during the afternoon. Some areas experienced some dense fog from dawn until mid-morning.
The spring migration, when timed just right, can produce a very wide variety of species on a single day as the following highlights show.
Fourteen Species of Waterfowl - Five Common Loon, 15 Snow Geese, two Lesser Scaup, two Bufflehead, four Common Merganser, two Red-breasted Merganser, and two Ruddy Duck.
Twelve Species of Shorebirds - Twelve Black-bellied Plover, seven Semipalmated Plover, one Pectoral Sandpiper, 66 Solitary Sandpiper, one Short-billed Dowitcher, and four Common Snipe.
Five Gull Species - One Laughing Gull, 73 Bonaparte's Gull.
Four Tern Species - One Black Tern, 22 Common Tern.
Thirty-two Warbler Species Plus Two Hybrids - Two notable misses for the day, but were probably in the County, were Yellow-throated Warbler and Pine Warbler. Two other species that were missed for the day and are normally more difficult to find than most were Mourning Warbler and Connecticut Warbler. Other highlights included two Wilson's, four Canada Warbler, one Prothonotary, three Blackpoll, two Bay-breasted, three Cape May, one Orange-crowned, one Tennessee, one Gold-winged, 1,389 Yellowrumped, one Lawrence's, and one Brewster's Warbler.
Nine Species of Sparrows - Fourteen Savannah, ten Grasshopper, one Lincoln's, 184 White-throated and 13 White-crowned Sparrow.
Other Individual Highlights - One Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, 11 Bald Eagle, one Ruffed Grouse, one Wild Turkey, one Northern Bobwhite, three Red-headed Woodpecker, 13 Swainson's Thrush, one Hermit Thrush, 27 American Pipit, six Blue-headed Vireo, three Blue Grosbeak, and one Purple Finch.
The observations listed for 1999 are not complete. They do not include the results of the surveys contracted for and done by Bob Schutsky for the Safe Harbor Dam projects. These were not available in time for this issue. Please check future issues of "Call Notes" for notification of receipt of this information and how to obtain a copy.
The 24th annual SoLanCo CBC was conducted on Sunday, December 19, 1999, under favorable weather conditions--temperatures 34° to 46°, mild, NW wind of no more than 3 mph, partly cloudy in the morning and clear in the afternoon, no rain, snow, or frozen water. A total of 109 species was observed, three shy of the record 112 found in 1994. The number of individual birds counted this year established a new record: 1,511,789 birds were tallied, well above the 1,369,355 of 1993. Blackbirds comprised the majority of this total.
One new species was added to the 24-year composite list, which now stands at 164 species. The new species was a 1st winter Black-legged Kittiwake seen three times during the day on the Susquehanna River near Peach Bottom Village. Additional species of note seen on count day included Osprey, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Brown Thrasher, Pine Warbler, Yellow-headed Blackbird, and Brewer's Blackbird.
I have also prepared a 24-year summary of the SoLanCo CBC data. Every bird ever recorded since we began this count in 1976 is entered in the 10-page table. I can send this table to you as a file via e-mail in Microsoft Excel format if you request it (info@birdtreks.com)
Our 25th count will be conducted on Sunday, December 17, 2000. We will be having a dinner and tally at the Valley View Restaurant beginning at 5:00 p.m. on the day of the count. If you are interested in participating on the count and/or attending the dinner, please contact me. Plan to join in the fun, the food, and the final tally of our 25th annual count!
The 100th National Audubon Society and 63rd Lancaster Christmas Bird Count was held on Sundav, January 2, 2000. The first record for the count--temperature--it reached 68°F in the afternoon! Real shirt-sleeve birding weather. I don't expect this record to be broken for many years.
Since the weather was so beautiful, it had to be a good count. It was! Ninety-six total species, tying our previous high; individuals totaled 54,617. Best bird was a Common Redpoll found with a flock of American Goldfinch at the Silver Mines in Pequea Township by Keath Leidich and company--a single bird, this was the first for the count since 1961. Other birds of note include: Northern Goshawk, Peregrine Falcon, Phoebe, Wilson's Warbler, and Baltimore Oriole. The warbler and oriole were found at the "oasis," the discharge stream from the Lancaster Area Sewer Authority sewage treatment plant. Where else would you expect them? First oriole since 1981.
A number of species reached high numbers this year. These included Black Vulture, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, Eastern Bluebird, and American Robin. Blame the weather! Semi-hardy or other, they all flourish in warmer weather. House Finch numbers also increased after five years of decline. Has the conjunctivitis run its course?
Besides the redpoll, Evening Grosbeaks and Pine Siskins were seen this year.
My grateful thanks to all who participated and especially to Bob Schutsky who covered the Susquehanna River islands. Without your help, there wouldn't be a count.
This year's Lititz Christmas Bird Count was held on Sunday, December 26, 1999. Ninety-two species, totaling 41,935 individuals, were identified on the count. This marks the third year in a row that 90 species or above has been reached on this count. There were 41 people participating in the field, with another ten watching their bird feeders and yards.
The best bird found on the count, but not on count day, was an adult Northern Shrike found at Middle Creek WMA. This bird was seen both before and after our count day.
Other highlights observed were 19 species of waterfowl, which included the following: six Snow Geese (count week)--compared to an estimated 20,000 in 1998, six Mute Swan, two Wood Duck, 17 American Wigeon, 12 Green-winged Teal, 12 Lesser Scaup, two Bufflehead, 42 Hooded Merganser, 100 Ruddy Duck, and one American Coot.
A good variety of field birds was recorded and included 1,139 Horned Larks, 26 Lapland Longspur, five Eastern Meadowlark, 43 Snow Bunting, 29 Common Snipe, and 34 Savannah Sparrow. One species that is not doing well is the Ring-necked Pheasant with only eight birds being found on count day.
Some other notable sightings were two Red-Shouldered Hawks, 19 Wild Turkey, one Barred Owl, four Eastern Phoebe, three Red-breasted Nuthatch, five Yellow-rumped Warbler, 13 Hermit Thrush, 756 Tree Sparrow, with 737 found at Middle Creek WMA alone, seven Fox Sparrow, one Red-winged Blackbird, 15 Rusty Blackbird, ten Purple Finch, and 114 Pine Siskin.
One significant miss on this year's count was Red-headed Woodpecker. The habitat where this bird has been seen most frequently was hard hit this past year with the cutting down or blowing down of some of the old dead trees. Hopefully, this species can be relocated somewhere close by this favored spot.
This year marked the second year in a row that every section had some coverage. There are still a few areas where some extra help could assist in covering these areas more thoroughly. If anyone has an interest in this count in 2000, please feel free to call me with any questions you might have.
Many thanks to all who helped out with the count. Your time and effort is very much appreciated and I hope to see you all next year. Good birding in 2000.
During 1999, 266 species of birds were identified by birders in Lancaster County. The three new species were added to the 23-year cumulative list which now stands at 324, with the yearly average being 255.
The three new species added were:
Of the nine species of herons and egrets found in the county during 1999, special sightings included Tricolored Heron (2nd year in a row) and Cattle Egret (3rd year in a row after being missed in 1996). Some other notable sightings were Least Bittern (4th year in a row), Glossy Ibis (5th in six years), and Sandhill Crane (6th in eight years).
There were 32 species of waterfowl seen this past year with Brant (only 2nd sighting in six years) being the only somewhat unusual species found. Two species not found included Greater White-fronted Goose (only 2nd miss in nine years) and Eurasian Wigeon (2nd year in a row missed after being observed in the county the previous nine years in a row).
The pair of Egyptian Geese that raised a family near Terre Hill as reported in "Call Notes" this past year was a very interesting and unusual sighting for the county. The origin of this species will probably remain uncertain.
The number of shorebird species identified totaled 28 for 1999 with highlights that included Willet (5th year in a row), Hudsonian Godwit (5th in eight years), Marbled Godwit (1st since 1993), Red Knot (2nd in three years), Long-billed Dowitcher (2nd in three years), and Red-necked Phalarope (3rd in four years). This year marked the first time in ten years that American Avocet and Black-necked Stilt were both missed in the same year.
There were eight gull species and six tern species found in the county during 1999. Sightings of interest included Common Black-headed Gull (4th in five years), Black-legged Kittiwake (2nd in four years), and Gull-billed Tern 3rd in six years).
Thirty-four species of warblers were identified, which included an amazing 32 species found on a single day during the North American Migration Count on May 9, 1999. Highlights for the day included Orange-crowned Warbler and both Brewster's and Lawrence's Warblers s being found. The latter two are hybrids between Blue-winged and Golden-winged Warblers.
Some other sightings of note included: Swallow-tailed Kite (2nd in five years), Yellow-headed Blackbird (8 years in a row), Brewer's Blackbird (2nd year in a row), White-winged Crossbill (2nd in three years), Red Crossbill (4th in six years), Seaside Sparrow (2nd county sighting; first was 1988), two sightings of Northern Shrike (1st since 1996), which includes the one being seen at various locations at Middle Creek WMA until at least the middle of February 2000, and a Summer Tanager (1st since 1992).
The pair of Bald Eagles at Middle Creek WMA successfully raised one young during the summer. Many people got to see the young bird before it moved on in late summer. The two adults remained at the lake and sometime during the late summer or early fall built a second nest about 200 yards from the original nest, but closer to the lake. The building of the second nest caught a number of people by surprise, including the staff at Middle Creek. By early winter, both adult birds were seen using the second nest with frequency. Wewill have to wait and see which nest will be used in 2000.Created for the Internet on ... 5 September 2005