Brier island Christmas Bird Count

BRIER ISLAND CHRISTMAS COUNT, 14 DECEMBER 2010

Weather overcast with showers, then broken cloud; 7-4C. Wind SSW 10-15 kph

0800-1700 AST

Participants: Cindy Garron, George Garron, Louise Garron, Anne Mills, Eric Mills (compiler), Richard Stern, Anne Mills.

54 species, 1833 individuals

Black Duck - 39; Mallard - 1; Common Eider - 107; Surf Scoter - 14; Black Scoter - 11; Long-tailed Duck - 42; Bufflehead - 3; Common Goldeneye - 7; Red-breasted Merganser - 16; Ring-necked Pheasant - 1; Red-throated Loon - 3; Common Loon - 14; Horned Grebe - 1; Red-necked Grebe - 23; Northern Gannet - 22; Double-crested Cormorant - 1; Great Cormorant - 100; Great Blue Heron - 1; Turkey Vulture - 2; Bald Eagle - 1; Northern Harrier - 3; Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1; Red-tailed Hawk - 2; Peregrine Falcon - 1; Purple Sandpiper - 2; Herring Gull - 240; Iceland Gull - 5; Great Black-backed Gull - 92; Black-legged Kittiwake - 307; Jaeger sp. - 1; Dovekie - 6; Razorbill - 204; Black Guillemot - 27; Atlantic Puffin - 1; alcid spp. - 122; Rock Pigeon - 13; Mourning Dove - 31; Northern Saw-whet Owl - 1; Hairy Woodpecker - 1; Northern Shrike - 1; Blue Jay - 13; American Crow - 94; Common Raven - 5; Black-capped Chickadee - 79; Boreal Chickadee - 1; Red-breasted Nuthatch - 2; White-breasted Nuthatch - 1; Golden-crowned Kinglet - 1; European Starling - 79; Bohemian Waxwing - 70; Dark-eyed Junco - 3; Northern Cardinal - 3; Red-winged Blackbird - 2; Common Grackle - 4; American Goldfinch - 6.


Birds during count week but not on count day: White-winged Scoter, Ruffed Grouse, Rough-legged Hawk, Ring-billed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Horned Owl, Rusty Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird.


Comments: We were lucky to get a count done only 12 hours after the violent storm on December 13 had ended. The numbers of birds seem to have been reduced by the storm. No Song Sparrows! no White-throated Sparrows! despite plenty of both in the preceding two weeks. Gull numbers were way down, despite the presence of many hundreds sheltering from the storm the day before. With only three observers in the field (the other three did a stellar job on feeders) we couldn't pay enough attention to the sea where there was a day long flypast of Kittiwakes, Razorbills, and probably other species. Our numbers represent only a small sampling of what must have passed the island while we were attempting to sample all the island's habitats.
Eric L. Mills

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and Eastern Phoebe

Eric Mill reports...

Today, Ian McLaren and I found a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and an E. Phoebe in Westport.

Other interesting birds included Barrow's Goldeneyes, Red-throated Loon, Great Blue Herons, Turkey Vultures, Bald Eagle, Peregrine Falcons, Rough-legged Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Kittiwakes, Razorbills, Black Guillemots, White-breasted Nuthatches, Am. Pipits, Cardinals, Red-winged Blackbirds, Cowbirds, Grackles, a male Rusty Blackbird, and Purple Finch - some perhaps useful for the winter list.

Dead Humpback Whale Calf

Lisa Clark reports...
A dead Humpback Calf has washed up on the shores near Western Light.