Bates Hole CBC

[Hustace Scott]

The Bates Hole Christmas Bird Count was on Jan 1.  We had 19 people in the field, and 3 feeder watchers.  The weather was warm and dry for Jan 1, with the temperature 28º to 50º and the wind was calm to maybe 5 mph.  The preliminary numbers are 45 species and 1712 individual birds.  Both numbers are a little below normal.  We didn't see any unusual birds, but several species were much lower than normal.  Due to a warm fall, I think the ducks have been shot at more than usual.  The result was that we missed several species of duck, and most of the ducks were on property that neither we nor the duck hunters can access.  All the eagles and hawks were much below normal or missing entirely with the exception of the Northern Harrier.  The Sage-Grouse were really low, and almost no dropping or tracks were seen.  The only Eurasian Collared Doves were in one group, and the 24 seen is low for this count.  We feel lucky to have found 3 Gray-crowned Rosy Finches, and the Tree Sparrows and House Sparrows were low.   

Stacey Scott, Casper

70	Canada Goose
5	Trumpeter Swan
cw	Gadwall
cw	American Wigeon
93	Mallard
cw	Northern Shoveler
8	Green-winged Teal
3	Bufflehead
113	Common Goldeneye
1	Common Merganser
62	Gray Partridge
26	Sage-Grouse
251	Wild Turkey
2	Great Blue Heron
4	Golden Eagle - Adult
2	Immature
4	Northern Harrier
8	Bald Eagle - Adult
1	Immature
cw	Red-Tailed Hawk
2	Rough-legged Hawk
5	Ring-billed Gull
46	Rock Pigeon
24	Eurasian Collared-Dove
3	Great Horned Owl
2	Belted Kingfisher
3	Downy Woodpecker
1	Harry Woodpecker
12	Red-shafted Flicker
1	Northern Shrike
50	Pinyon Jay
2	Blue Jay
133	Black-billed Magpie
13	Clark's Nutcracker
5	American Crow
14	Common Raven
113	Horned Lark
23	Black-capped Chickadee
1	American Dipper
8	Townsend's Solitaire
32	American Robin
331	European Starling
15	American Tree Sparrow
25	Dark-eyed Junco
6	Song Sparrow
125	Red-winged Blackbird
1	Western Meadowlark
3	Gray-crowned Rosy Finch
12	House Finch
23	American Goldfinch
25	House Sparrow
1712	Individuals, 45 Species