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Chatham County 9/15 count results



We had a record turnout of counters for the 2001 Chatham County Fall 
Migration Count on September 15, but strong winds kept the birds lying 
low for the most part.  The 37 counters in 17 parties easily beat the old 
record of 27 in 13 parties, and the number of party-hours, 132, beats the 
old record by 50%.  Not surprisingly, we counted a record number of 
birds, 4895, in an average 103 species.

The number of birds per hour confirms the feeling most people had that 
this was a slow day - 37.1 bph is the lowest by far of the six Chatham 
counts, well below the average of 49.5.  The day following a cold front 
is reputed to be good for migrants, but the cold front that passed the 
day before the count apparently blew more birds out than it blew in.

We set a large number of record highs due to the high level of 
participation.  Ones that are more than 50% above previous record highs 
are Double-crested Cormorant, Black Vulture, Bald Eagle, Broad-winged 
Hawk, Sanderling, Northern Waterthrush, Hooded Warbler, Chipping Sparrow, 
Field Sparrow, Brown-headed Cowbird, House Finch, and American Goldfinch.

The highlight for many groups was seeing lots of Bald Eagles.  No great 
rarities or species new to the count were found.  Ones we don't get every 
year included Sanderling, Ring-billed Gull (only our second!), singing 
Whip-poor-wills, Bay-breasted Warbler, and Yellow-breasted Chat.

Detailed results will be appearing in the Chapel Hill Bird Club 
newsletter.  Here are the totals:

232	Double-crested Cormorant
47	Great Blue Heron
50	Great Egret
2	Green Heron
43	Black Vulture
165	Turkey Vulture
136	Canada Goose
40	Wood Duck
1	American Black Duck
44	Mallard
1	Blue-winged Teal
18	Osprey
23	Bald Eagle
6	Sharp-shinned Hawk
19	Red-shouldered Hawk
4	Broad-winged Hawk
17	Red-tailed Hawk
1	American Kestrel
3	Wild Turkey
5	Killdeer
2	Spotted Sandpiper
2	Sanderling
1	Ring-billed Gull
4	Caspian Tern
7	Rock Dove
177	Mourning Dove
7	Yellow-billed Cuckoo
1	Eastern Screech-Owl
3	Barred Owl
5	Whip-poor-will
161	Chimney Swift
13	Ruby-throated Hummingbird
14	Belted Kingfisher
32	Red-headed Woodpecker
104	Red-bellied Woodpecker
90	Downy Woodpecker
14	Hairy Woodpecker
46	Northern Flicker
17	Pileated Woodpecker
13	Eastern Wood-Pewee
2	Empidonax sp.
13	Eastern Phoebe
1	Great Crested Flycatcher
14	White-eyed Vireo
4	Yellow-throated Vireo
28	Red-eyed Vireo
267	Blue Jay
302	American Crow
5	Fish Crow
3	Swallow sp.
404	Carolina Chickadee
349	Tufted Titmouse
40	White-breasted Nuthatch
77	Brown-headed Nuthatch
180	Carolina Wren
1	House Wren
21	Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
1	Ruby-crowned Kinglet
171	Eastern Bluebird
1	Swainson's Thrush
7	Wood Thrush
36	American Robin
5	Gray Catbird
27	Northern Mockingbird
11	Brown Thrasher
34	European Starling
1	Blue-winged Warbler
1	Nashville Warbler
23	Northern Parula
2	Yellow Warbler
3	Chestnut-sided Warbler
15	Magnolia Warbler
2	Cape May Warbler
8	Black-throated Blue Warbler
3	Black-throated Green Warbler
3	Blackburnian Warbler
2	Yellow-throated Warbler
224	Pine Warbler
1	Prairie Warbler
7	Palm Warbler
1	Bay-breasted Warbler
30	Black-and-white Warbler
27	American Redstart
4	Ovenbird
5	Northern Waterthrush
37	Common Yellowthroat
11	Hooded Warbler
1	Yellow-breasted Chat
18	Summer Tanager
16	Scarlet Tanager
41	Eastern Towhee
65	Chipping Sparrow
41	Field Sparrow
267	Northern Cardinal
9	Rose-breasted Grosbeak
14	Blue Grosbeak
116	Indigo Bunting
4	Eastern Meadowlark
1	Common Grackle
31	Brown-headed Cowbird
25	House Finch
259	American Goldfinch
3	House Sparrow


-- 
Charles W. "Will" Cook                  w 919-660-7423
http://www.duke.edu/~cwcook            cwcook@duke.edu
Biology Dept., Duke Univ., Box 90340, Durham, NC 27708