Christmas Bird Count 2023 - A HUGE thank you!

By Nancy Howell, Compiler for the Lakewood Circle Christmas Bird Count

Everyone who participated in the Christmas Bird Count (CBC) 2023 deserves a thank you, even the birds that managed to show up. Lakewood CBC 2023 was a bit of a struggle with somewhat cooperative yet uncooperative weather keeping birds spread out who knows where. The year was not an irruptive year for finches, all waters were wide open which did not concentrate gulls or other water birds, and many participants asked, “Where are the birds?”  Rather than focus on what was not on the list, let’s celebrate what was found. 

December had milder to normal temperatures earlier in the month, and little to no snow. On Count Day, Saturday, December 30, temperatures hovered in the mid to upper 30’s and remained there all day. The day was mostly overcast, with the sun peeking out for very, very short periods. Drizzle, was on and off most of the day sometimes changing to on and off snow. There was no snow accumulation anywhere and all water; lakes, ponds, rivers and streams were unfrozen.

The 2023 Count tallied 77 species on Count Day with one species added during Count Week (cw). Notable species were: Harlequin Duck, Killdeer, Black Vulture, Eastern Screech Owl, Short-eared Owl (cw), Brown Thrasher, Gray Catbird, Snow Bunting, and Rusty Blackbird. See the species list at the end of the narrative. 

Highlights, or perhaps lowlights, of the CBC was the lack of diversity and number of waterbirds/waterfowl reported from the Lake Erie routes. It wasn’t for the lack of trying, the birds just were not around and visibility was noted as fair to poor. Canada Goose and Mallard were in good numbers,  found throughout the Count circle, but lower than many previous years. Other waterfowl numbers were low. Red-breasted Mergansers, which should be in the 10’s of thousands, didn’t even reach 1000 birds. Single birds were reported for Gadwall, Redhead, Hooded Merganser, and Ruddy Duck. No Common Loons were reported this year, but a higher than usual number of Double-crested Cormorants was indicated, interesting. Even the gulls had low numbers and no unusual or rare gulls were found.

A Killdeer was a nice find, as were the 7 Black Vultures in the Brooklyn area warming up on a church chimney. Turkey Vultures are becoming winter birds here. Raptors and owls made a decent showing. An Eastern Screech Owl, 4 Great Horned and 4 Barred Owls were reported. Short-eared Owls were not located on Count Day, but added during Count Week is always good. Neighborhood and backyard birds seemed a tad scarce. American Crow numbers still have not reached big numbers. Perhaps no crow roosts in the area? A single Red-breasted Nuthatch and Brown Creeper were good finds as were the 13 Golden-crowned Kinglets.

American Robins were plentiful, primarily feeding on fruit. The Family of birds called the Mimidae, which includes Brown Thrasher, Gray Catbird and Northern Mockingbird, were all found on Count Day, with the thrasher and catbird being unusual at this time of year. What kept them in the area?

As noted earlier, it was not a winter finch year so no special winter finches were found. A flyby Snow Bunting sighted by one of the lakefront groups was nice addition. Sparrow diversity and numbers were a bit low although Dark-eyed Junco were reported in good numbers.

The most important part of the Christmas Bird Count are our participants, whether as part of a walking or driving route, or as a feeder watcher, your skills and effort are always appreciated … thank you again. The 2023 Count had 99 participants with a group, the Nature Club at the Renaissance Retirement Community, participating. An hour of nocturnal birding was done. Ten feederwatchers tallied 20.5 hours. The 21 parties (groups) that were out, some walking, some by car, and some both, accumulated 78.75 hours and 139.75 miles all together. I am humbled by the dedication of every participant. Thank you.

The list of species and number of each species is below. The list of participants follows the bird list. Species in bold are unusual species and those in italics are Count Week species (cw)

Count #

Species
​​

# Observed

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
​.
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77

Canada Goose
Gadwall
American Black Duck
Mallard
Canvasback
Redhead
Lesser Scaup
Greater/Lesser Scaup
Harlequin Duck
Black Scoter
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Wild Turkey
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
American Coot
Killdeer
Bonaparte’s Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Cooper’s Hawk
Bald Eagle
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Eastern Screech Owl
Great Horned Owl
Barred Owl
Short-eared Owl (cw)
Belted Kingfisher
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
American Kestrel
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon
Blue Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Carolina Wren
European Starling
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
House Sparrow
House Finch
American Goldfinch
Snow Bunting
American Tree Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Common Grackle
Rusty Blackbird
Northern Cardinal

487
1
2
314
8
1
50
1
1
4
42
610
1
714
1
15
4
5
89
64
6
1
509
1037
42
5
751
10
7
8
12
10
6
28
1
4
4
.
​12
3
76
120
23
14
5
2
4
5
173
45
166
90
13
1
95
1
29
1503
1
1
1
10
1518
9
787
143
172
1
70
245
50
21
6
22
22
10
1
154

Here are the participants from the 2023 Lakewood Circle Christmas Bird Count:
Judy Allen, Peg Anderson, Ken Andrews, Alison Ball, Ken and Lois Ballas, Buster Banish, Cindy Banjoff, Diana Bjel, Michelle Brosius, Lori Brumbaugh, Jen Brumfield, Diane Busch, Al Cadesky, Craig Caldwell, Alice Cantor, Richard Cantor, Lee and Sue Cavano, Lenore Charnigo, Gay Christiansen-Dean, Kathryn Clark, Frank Comodeca, Adam Cupito, Erin Davis, Jenny Dieringer, Maria and Charles Finchum, Elise Fleming, Ron Fleming, Jody Galaszewski, Lou Gardella, Alisa and Becky Gerbec, Joanne and Terry Gorges, Dave Graskemper, Kristi Hall and 2 daughters, Sandra Hardy, Peg Hartney, Jim Heflich, Ann Heidenreich, Tom Herr, Nancy Howell, Mary Lou Hura, Carolyn & Earl Jedlicka, Debra Jesionowski, Rich and Karen Kassouf, Patty Kellner, Scott Kersey, Marian and Jeff Kraus, Anna Kozlenko, Joann Kubicki, Duane Kurapka, Craig Lanken, Tom Leiden, Jim Lindway, Fred Losi, Paula Lozano, Judy Malasky, Michelle Manzo, Jim McCarty, Jeff McManus, Liz McQuaid, Andrew Merwin, Jerry Miller, Shaun Missig, Drina Nemes, Cynthia Norris, Bill Ohlsen, Mike Pacek, Linda Paull, Myrna Pendery, Chris Pierce, Al Rand, Mary Anne and Tom Romito, Maryann Semancik, Tom Sendry, Judy Sklarek, Kent Starrett, Meredith Steck, Sonya Steckler, Gary Stevens, Deb Sweeney, Laura and Jassen Tawil, Vicki Thomas-Ramirez, Janet Wertz, Nan Wilson, Eileen Wyza, and Rachel and Mike Yurchisin.

GOOD BIRDING IN 2024! 
Respectfully submitted,
Nancy Howell, Christmas Bird Count Coordinator
Lakewood Circle
[email protected]
January 9, 2024