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       Bald Eagle
  Bergen County Audubon Society

 

Bergen County Audubon Society participates
in educational, environmental and conservation programs

A chapter of the National Audubon Society

 

Great Blue Heron  enjoying an eel at the Meadowlands -   Thank you Edith Wallace

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Bird Count Flies in the Face of the Storm

Bergen County Audubon lucked out again this year.  Somehow we produced an excellent result on Saturday, Dec. 19 despite leaden skies and a gloomy forecast.  Days of cold weather turned into a strong snowfall just as we were completing our rounds.  BCAS leaders came out in force, and by the time that snow began to stick in midafternoon, we already had an interesting list of birds.  Footing was sometimes awkward due to uneven frozen ground, but the BCAS crew covered most of the territory thoroughly. The following day was a snowy mess that could have forced most us off the trail.  So we count ourselves very lucky.

Many streams and smaller ponds were frozen shut, but Bergen County still had enough open water to shelter good numbers of ducks and geese.  Two small flocks of Snow Geese were seen in flight, heading south, and a huge flock of Wood Duck (88 birds) were still dawdling at Woodcliff Lake.  Oradell Reservoir and Mehrhof Pond sheltered many waterfowl as in previous winters, and were very productive overall.

Bald Eagles were again present over most of the county, with many adults and immature birds seen along the larger reservoirs and rivers.  A rare Golden Eagle was seen in Oradell on Sunday, but not on count day.  A Merlin was photographed near the Steuben House, and a Peregrine Falcon was seen near the Hudson River at the northern limit of our count circle.  Many Great Horned Owls were heard booming in the center of our territory, and a rare Red-headed Woodpecker was photographed on Van Buskirk Island in Oradell. The same area yielded a Pileated Woodpecker, which has become much less common in recent years.

Eastern Bluebirds were one of the nicer passerine species to be found, showing up both at Pascack Valley and at a golf course in Oradell.  Robins remained in record numbers, and were even more common in early December.  Hermit Thrush were seen in Teterboro, Oradell and at Greenbrook Sanctuary.  A Brown Thrasher and a Gray Catbird were both still lingering in the northern Palisades.  The most surprising find was an Orange-crowned Warbler sunning itself (yes, the sun actually broke through briefly to shine on this one!) in some pines near Mehrhof Pond.  A Lincoln’s Sparrow was at the Haworth leaf dump.  A few sparrow species continue to flourish throughout the County, but those requiring grassland habitats are vanishing.  Compared to last winter, most finch species were low or absent.  Monk Parakeets continue to flourish and to spread to more towns along the Palisades, and this winter we found an increasing number of Pekin Ducks, mostly in Hawthorne and the Little Ferry area.

            These excellent results could not have been achieved except thorough steadfast efforts by our group leaders, and by the helpers who joined them.  We also received good feeder reports that helped to swell our totals for some species.  My warm thanks go out to everyone who participated.  Watch the BCAS website for some of the photos.

 

                                                                                    Dave Hall

 

Pied‑billed Grebe                  1

Dbl‑crested Cormorant        71       

Great Cormorant                 1

Great Blue Heron                  41

Bl‑crn. Night Heron            1          Low

Mute Swan                             6

Snow Goose                          17

Canada Goose                                    6340

Wood Duck                           114     High

Green‑winged Teal                23        Low

Am. Black Duck                      109

Mallard                                   2441

Northern Shoveler                122

Gadwall                                  8

Ring-neckd Duck                 36        High  

Lesser Scaup                         33

Bufflehead                             5

Hood Merganser                   94

Com Merganser                     3979

Red-br Merganser               2

Ruddy Duck                           1572  

Turkey Vulture                      8

Bald Eagle                             25        High

Sharp‑shin. Hawk                  5

Cooper's Hawk                      11        High

Red‑shldrd. Hawk                 1

Red‑tailed Hawk                    49

Merlin                                    1          !!

Peregrine Falcon                 2

Wild Turkey                           7


 

American Coot                       5

Ring‑billed Gull                      4554

Herring Gull                           76        Low

Gr.Bl.-Bckd Gull                     42        Low

Rock Dove                              1360

Mourning Dove                     428

East. Screech Owl                  17

Great‑horned Owl               10        New High

Belted Kingfisher                  12

Red‑hd Woodpecker          1          !!

Red‑bel. Woodpkr               144     New High

Yellow‑b. Sapsucker              1

Downy Woodpecker             136

Hairy Woodpecker               34

Northern Flicker                   13


 

Pileated Woodpckr             1

Blue Jay                                  268    

American Crow                     507

Fish Crow                               8

Black‑capped Chickadee       168

Tufted Titmouse                    135

White‑br Nuthatch                96

Brown Creeper                     5

Carolina Wren                       31

Winter Wren                         7          High

Golden‑crd Kinglet                9

Eastern Bluebird                   14        High

Hermit Thrush                       4

American Robin                  495     New High

Gray Catbird                          1

N. Mockingbird                      32        Low

Brown Thrasher                  1

Cedar Waxwing                     42       

Eur. Starling                           1534

Orange‑cr Warbler              1          !!

Yellow‑rump Warbler          2

Northern Cardinal                209    

Rufous‑sided Towhee           5

Am Tree Sparrow                 44

Fox Sparrow                          15

Song Sparrow                                    122    

Lincoln Sparrow                 1          !!

Swamp Sparrow                    3

White‑thr Sparrow             908     New High

Dark‑eyed Junco                   1086   High

Red‑wingd Blackbird            267

Rusty Blackbird                   2

Common Grackle                   7          Low

Brown‑hd Cowbird               4

Purple Finch                          4

House Finch                           191     Low

Am. Goldfinch                                    151     Low

House Sparrow                     872     High

Monk Parakeet                      113

 

Exotics

Domestic Muscovy                1

Pekin Duck                             11        High

Mallard X Pekin Duck        1

 

29,340 birds   84 species plus 3 exotic species. 

Exceptional finds or numbers are marked in bold face and/or by  !!

New High indicates that the species was seen in highest number ever for 61 years.             

Count period birds (Dec 16-22): Golden Eagle, Common Raven, Killdeer seen within count Period.

 

 

BIRD FEEDER CLEANING 2009 RAISES ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR CHAPTER

        On Saturday June 6, Bergen County Audubon again participated in the annual bird feeder cleaning fundraiser at the Wild Birds Unlimited store on Rt. 17 South in Paramus.  Our volunteers had a good working day,  during which we cleaned 180 feeders for a total of $660.00 raised.  We are grateful to those who came out and brought their feeders in and for their generous donations.  We also extend our thanks to Scott Gunther at the Wild Birds Unlimited store for sponsoring the event.  Last and certainly not least, thanks to Dave Hall and the tireless group of BCAS volunteers who did a wonderful job:  Dick Engsberg, Harold and Glen Feinberg,  Nancy Hall, Peggy O'Neil, Edith Wallace, Sheila Keane, Almarie Khawaja, Alice Leurck, Alan Leurck, Tammy Laverty, Pam and Olivia Mistretta, Gerry Byrne, Harry Byrne.  And let us not forget our special visitor.  Part way through the cleaning, a Red-tailed Hawk perched on a tree branch reaching out over our cleaning endeavors, never flinched when people came close.  After one half hour of watching the feeder cleaning, it apparently became bored and moved on.

The next Feeder Cleaning day will be posted on this web site and  the Wild Birds Unlimited Web Site.     http://paramus.wbu.com/     If  you would like to help us out as a volunteer please contact  Ken Witkowski at  (973)208-9808.  

Photos by Pam Mistretta

                  

           Dave Hall , Almarie Khawaja, Sheila Keane, Harry Byrne at the wash Station.

                                           

                                                               Enthusiastic Helper

                                                                             

                Audubon Refuge Keeper Program (ARK)
National Audubon Society's ARK program is a core component of the Wildlife Refuge Campaign that seeks to build public awareness and appreciation for our national wildlife refuges.  Bergen County Audubon Society is a participant in this program and works with the staff of the Wallkill River NWR in Sussex County.  Our activities include advocacy in the form of letter writing campaigns,  environmental education  fostered by sponsoring field trips,  citizen science by monitoring bluebird nesting boxes and conducting grassland bird point surveys.  We have also been involved in establishing an annual July butterfly count on the refuge.   Volunteers are always welcome.  If you have any particular environmental expertise or simply would like to help out in the refuge office or on special projects, we would be happy to put you in touch with  the refuge staff.  Please contact Ken Witkowski (973) 208-9808 for additional information.