Pawling NY - CT (Hidden Valley) Christmas Bird Count
January 1, 2006

by Carena Pooth

Rubbing my eyes at 4am, I checked the thermometer and noted that it was in the low 20s, not a bad morning to head out for some owling!  I always try for an owl as my first bird of the year, but it wasn't meant to be for 2006.  My first bird of the year was an energetic junco (oh well). 

As usual, our friends across the border in Connecticut had much better luck with the owls.  The Connecticut contingent always manages to find lots of Eastern Screech-Owls, and this year was no exception as they turned up 16 screechers along with 8 Great Horned and one Barred Owl.  Barbara Butler, Renee Burgevin, and Kelly Liao found the lone NY Great Horned Owl for the count.  But Sibyll Gilbert followed our convivial dinner at Mario's with a round of owling and was rewarded with a Long-eared Owl!  This species merited an "unusual species" flag on our list (and a CBC rare bird report).

The other rare bird report came from Bob Cartoceti and Bill Liedlich, who found two Red-necked Grebes at Candlewood Isle in Connecticut.  This species was a first for our count and is altogether very unusual outside of spring and fall migration times.

18249 birds were counted, with 82 species on our list for this year. This was up sharply from 11578 individuals and 74 species plus one in count week last year, even though we had 35 field observers this year versus last year's 41.  The average bird numbers over the last ten years are 12471 individuals and 77 species, so hats off to all who participated!  Comparative 2005/2006 results are shown in the accompanying chart.

Temperatures ranged from 21 to 36, not quite as warm as last year's 34 to 50 but still pretty balmy for New Year's Day.  We had a few inches of fresh snow cover.  There was still a lot of ice on the lakes and ponds, depressing some of the waterfowl numbers but not preventing a new high count for Common Merganser—3645!

Black Vultures, which first appeared on our count in 1999, are now expected every year, and we found 13 of them, along with 3 Turkey Vultures.  At 896, American Crow was a little lower than last year's 1160, but not alarmingly so.  One Fish Crow and 3 Common Ravens were found also.  In the previous two years we had 29 and 10 ravens, respectively.

All in all, we had a great day and enjoyed a nice gathering at Mario's afterward (thanks to Binnie Chase for once again setting this up!).

The Pawling circle includes eastern Dutchess north to Wingdale, bounded on the west by Poughquag and Greenhaven. In addition, the northern portion of Putnam County, including Kent, Carmel, and Patterson, is part of the circle, as are Sherman, parts of New Milford, and Danbury, CT.  Many thanks to our venerable team of  35 field observers and 20 feeder watchers:

NY:  Renee Burgevin, Barbara Butler, Binnie Chase, Dot Fleury, Carol & Ken Fredericks, Sibyll Gilbert, Steve Golladay, Kateri Kosek, Kelly Liao, Judy Kelley Moberg, Maryanne Pitts, Carena Pooth, Nancy Sanes, Lauri Taylor, Herb Thompson, Jim Utter, Chet Vincent, Bill Wallace.  Feeder Watchers:  Christine Luchini, Karen Schilling
CT:  Dave Babington, Pat Bailey, Bob Cartoceti, Angela Dimmitt, Jim Dugan, Larry Fischer, Linton Hamilton, Anne Kehmna, Rachel Keneally, Bill Liedlich, Carolyn Longstreth, Russ Naylor, Paul Peters, Linda Potter, Dave Rosgen, Carol Titus.  Feeder Watchers:  Sandra Bondy, Don Breeger, Terry and Steve De Maio, Bud Dimmitt, Robert and Nancy Grenier, Carol Hamilton, Margery Josephson, Kathy and George Leier, Phyllis McGoldrick, Luce Neilsen, Emil and Jane Schipul, Eva and Henry Von Ancken.

Angela Dimmitt compiled the Connecticut results and Carena Pooth handled the NY side of the count.

Mark your calendar now for January 1, 2007, when we'll have another chance to ring in the feathered new!
 

PAWLING (HIDDEN VALLEY) CBC
SPECIES	# Found 1/1/06	# Found 1/1/05		SPECIES	# Found 1/1/06	# Found 1/1/05
Snow Goose				Downy Woodpecker	236	121
Canada Goose	718	1554		Hairy Woodpecker	38	19
Mute Swan	30	42		Northern Flicker	46	15
Wood Duck	3			Pileated Woodpecker	14	10
Gadwall				Northern Shrike		1
American Wigeon	7			Blue Jay	369	103
American Black Duck	32	22		American Crow	896	1160
Mallard	481	660		Fish Crow	1	8
Northern Pintail				Common Raven	3	10
Ring-necked Duck	7			Horned Lark
Lesser Scaup	2			Black-capped Chickadee	1032	665
Bufflehead	7	10		Tufted Titmouse	448	964
Common Goldeneye	10	6		Red-breasted Nuthatch	5	1
Hooded Merganser	160	13		White-breasted Nuthatch	264	184
Common Merganser	3645	52		Brown Creeper	5	10
Red-breasted Merganser				Carolina Wren	32	31
Ruddy Duck	153	18		Winter Wren	4	2
Ring-necked Pheasant	2			Golden-crowned Kinglet	7	48
Wild Turkey	266	131		Ruby-crowned Kinglet		1
Common Loon	1	1		Eastern Bluebird	197	154
Red-necked Grebe   NEW	2			Hermit Thrush	24	3
Great Blue Heron	1	2		American Robin	957	474
Black Vulture	13	26		Gray Catbird	19	2
Turkey Vulture	3	13		Northern Mockingbird	40	50
Bald Eagle	10	7		European Starling	2743	1392
Northern Harrier	2			American Pipit		8
Sharp-shinned Hawk	7	1		Cedar Waxwing	305	193
Cooper's Hawk	12	5		Yellow-rumped Warbler	5	1
Northern Goshawk	1	1		Eastern Towhee	1	cw
Red-shouldered Hawk	3	2		American Tree Sparrow	123	51
Red-tailed Hawk	72	68		Field Sparrow	1	1
American Kestrel				Fox Sparrow	2
Merlin				Song Sparrow	85	68
American Coot	88	20		Swamp Sparrow	8	2
Wilson's Snipe				White-throated Sparrow	635	186
Ring-billed Gull	577	1312		Dark-eyed Junco	758	556
Herring Gull	338	120		Northern Cardinal	277	212
Great Black-backed Gull	57	15		Red-winged Blackbird		105
Rock Pigeon	218	109		Rusty Blackbird	6	15
Mourning Dove	638	258		Common Grackle	1
Eastern Screech Owl	16	16		Brown-headed Cowbird	1	1
Great Horned Owl	9	2		Purple Finch	5
Barred Owl	1	4		House Finch	352	244
Long-eared Owl	1			Common Redpoll	8
Belted Kingfisher	4	7		Pine Siskin	4	1
Red-bellied Woodpecker	100	40		American Goldfinch	277	135
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	7	1		House Sparrow	309	398
Total Birds	18,249	11,578
Total Species	82	74+1cw
Field Birders	35	41
Feeder Watchers	20	12