CBC results for the Sterling, Logan County, CBC (12/29/15)

[William H Kaempfer]

Yesterday was the 14^th annual “modern-era” Sterling CBC.   Here are some highlights:

 

• 68 species reported is our 3^rd highest total topped only by 2008 (73) and 2010 (74).

 

• Of the 68 species, 40% were seen by only one team.

 

• New-to-count species included Gray Catbird, Brown Thrasher and Yellow-rumped Warbler.

 

• Ring-necked Pheasant, Wild Turkey and Greater Prairie Chicken all had all-time highs (if you ignore the historical record of 1949 where the pheasant count was 1 more than the 111 we had this year).

 

• 4 other species had high counts—Northern Shoveler, Red-tailed Hawk, Prairie Falcon and Western Meadowlark.  In fact the WEME (Western Meadowlark) tally of 341 was only 10 less than that for Red-winged Blackbird!

 

• We have now had Long-tailed Duck on 21% of our counts (3/14) which has to be a high percentage for Colorado.

 

You still have one more weekend for participating on a Christmas Bird Count, and the weather looks to promise much warmer temperatures than the high of 19 that we had yesterday with morning fog.

 

Bill Kaempfer

Boulder