Christmas Bird Count

Today was the day the Tiadaghton Audubon Society held its annual Christmas Bird Count. Teams of volunteers headed out to various parts of Tioga County within our 10-mile radius circle to identify bird species and numbers.

Terry and I went over to the Ives Run Recreation Area on Hammond Lake to do a little birding and do our part in the Count. The morning temperatures were between 18 and 22 degrees and the ground was covered with 8 inches of snow. While Crooked Creek, the main tributary of Hammond Lake was ice free, much of the lake was not. The tail race below the dam and Tioga Lake above the dam were open and attracted lots of Ring-billed Gulls and Common Mergansers respectively. The woods along Crooked Creek and the hedgerows near the game management area feeding plots were filled with numerous birds but only of a limited number of species. After four and a half hours in the field, we headed over to one of the members houses where we met up with other birders who had been out to compare notes over some hot chili, coffee and dessert.

Here's our (Terry's an my) record for today:

Location: Ive's Run
Observation date: 12/15/07


Morning was clear and cold (18-22 degrees). Very little open water on Hammond Lake. Most water fowl were in the spillway tailrace or in Tioga Lake just above the dam.
Number of species: 20

Canada Goose 96
Mallard 17
Common Merganser 150
Bald Eagle 2
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Ring-billed Gull 150
Mourning Dove 3
Northern Flicker 1
Blue Jay 29
American Crow 25
Black-capped Chickadee 9
Tufted Titmouse 5
White-breasted Nuthatch 5
Bohemian Waxwings 16
European Starling 50
American Tree Sparrow 45
Dark-eyed Junco 54
Northern Cardinal 1
American Goldfinch 3
Evening Grosbeak 6
House Sparrow 8

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)


Not bad for a cold winter's morning. But there are many species that we normally see at the Aerie that weren't at Ives Run.