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Hilton Head Is. (SC) CBC results are in



For your entertainment, the results of the infamous Hilton Head Christmas 
Bird Count (12/18/99) are now online at:

http://birdsource.tc.cornell.edu/showcbc/review.html?circle=SCHH

Reported totals are 37397 birds in 164 species, with an astounding 194 
counters and 108 party-hours.

The two boldfaced birds seem quite reasonable:
Roseate Spoonbill - 1 (the same one last reported on the October 11 
Carolinas RBA?)
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 2

Things get a little more interesting in the list of birds that the compiler 
apparently doesn't think are particularly noteworthy:

Red-necked Grebe - 1  (certainly possible, but not boldfaced?)
Eared Grebe - 4 (ditto)
White-winged Scoter - 4 (no other scoters - perhaps Red-breasted Mergs?)
Common Merganser - 10 (I bet these were Red-breasted Mergansers)
Caspian Tern - 7 (possible, but not boldfaced?)
Sandwich Tern - 4 (ditto)
Common Tern - 111 (I suspect at least 110 of these were Forster's Terns)
Eurasian Collared-Dove - 34 (that's a lot - I'd think this would be marked 
as a high count)
Ringed Turtle-Dove - 6 (Eurasian Collared-Doves?)
Great-crested Flycatcher - 1  (certainly possible, but not boldfaced?)
Black-throated Blue Warbler - 2  (certainly possible, but not boldfaced?)
American Tree Sparrow - 6 (take your pick - Field Sparrows or Chipping 
Sparrows?)

Somehow the compiler found a way to enter this on the list:
Rufous-sided Towhee - 56 (the compiler probably hasn't heard about the re-
split of Eastern and Spotted)

The numbers of waders seem extremely high - how many times was each bird 
counted?  Ditto for Osprey (104) and it's hard to imagine 577 Wood Ducks.

This area sounds like it's one of the best birding spots in the state -- 
it's a shame that their CBC data are nearly worthless.  I wonder how much 
peer-pressure it will take before this count is reformed?

-- 
Charles W. "Will" Cook                w 919-660-7423
cwcook@duke.edu                       h 919-967-5446
Duke University Botany Dept., Durham, North Carolina
http://www.duke.edu/~cwcook