2008 Blogger BioBlitz—My Results

Damn! I missed the Blogger BioBlitz—for the second year in a row! Either it wasn’t well publicized or I’ve not been keeping up on things, but most likely it was the latter. Luckily, not all is lost. The official dates for the 2008 Blogger BioBlitz were September 20-28. As it happened, I conducted standardized bird counts on seven days during that period, September 20-26, using a protocol defined by eBird as an “area count.” The area that I surveyed included my yard, adjoining Crescent Lake, adjacent scrubby areas, and a hardwoods forest on the opposite side of the lake. Between 1 and 2 hours were devoted to the daily counts.

Rather than submitting my results in the form of a “datasheet download,” I chose to provide a written summary here. I recorded a total of 55 species (min/day: 14, med: 26, max: 42) and a minimum of 1,874 individuals, or 268/day (min: 69, med: 205, max: 595); 17 species were observed just once during the 7 days, while 21 species were observed on 4 or more days. A detailed species list follows:

Canada Goose – 7 days, min. of 152 birds* (30.4/day); max: 65 on 24th

Mute Swan – 6 days, 12 birds (2/day, a resident pair)

Wood Duck – 6 days, 31 birds (5.2/day); min: 1, med: 5, max: 11 on 21st

Mallard – 3 days, 16 birds (5.3/day); max: 7 on 24th

Pied-billed Grebe – 1 bird on 25th

Double-crested Cormorant – 1 bird on 26th (I watched as this bird flew into and landed on Crescent Lake and then began feeding immediately)

Great Blue Heron – 1 bird on each of 4 days (1/day)

Great Egret – 1 bird on each of 2 days (25th & 26th)

Turkey Vulture – 3 days, 6 birds (2/day); max: 3 on 22nd

Red-shouldered Hawk – 3 days, 5 birds (1.7/day); max: 3 on 25th

American Coot – 1 bird on 26th

Ring-billed Gull – 6 days, 453 birds (75.5/day); min: 1, med: 39.5, max 313 on 25th

Mourning Dove – 6 days, 19 birds (3.2/day); min: 2, med: 3.5, max 4 (4 different days)

Eastern Screech-Owl – 2 days, 2 birds (1/day, heard calling)

Great Horned Owl – 1 bird heard calling on 21st

Chimney Swift – 4 days, 35 birds (8.8/day); max: 17 on 24th

Ruby-throated Hummingbird – 1 bird on 24th

Belted Kingfisher – 1 bird on 26th

Red-bellied Woodpecker – 5 days, 11 birds (2.2/day); min: 1, med: 1, max: 6 on 26th

Downy Woodpecker – 6 days, 11 birds (2.2/day); min: 1, med: 2, max: 3 on 26th

Northern Flicker – 3 days, 16 birds (5.3/day); max: 10 on 26th

Olive-sided Flycatcher – 1 bird on 24th

Alder Flycatcher – 1 bird on 24th (heard calling)

Eastern Phoebe – 6 days, 16 birds (2.7/day); min: 1, med: 1.5, max: 6 on 24th

Great Crested Flycatcher – 1 bird on 24th

Red-eyed Vireo – 2 days, 3 birds (1.5/day); max: 2 on 26th

Blue Jay – 7 days, min. of 109 birds* (21.8/day); min: 15, med: 19, max: 30 on 20th & 24th

American Crow – 6 days, minimum of 16 birds^ (4/day); max: 5 on 20th & 24th

Northern Rough-winged Swallow – 30 birds on each of 2 days, 21st & 22nd

swallow sp. – 2 days, 25 birds (12.5/day); max: 15 on 26th

Black-capped Chickadee – 4 days, 4 birds (1/day)

Tufted Titmouse – 6 days, 8 birds (1.3/day); min: 1, med: 1, max: 2 on 24th & 26th

White-breasted Nuthatch – 7 days, 17 birds (2.4/day); min: 1, med: 2, max: 6 on 24th

House Wren – 1 bird on 20th

American Robin – 7 days, 240 birds (34.3/day); min: 1, med: 18, max: 110 on 24th

Gray Catbird – 6 days, 84 birds (14/day); min: 1, med: 13.5, max: 26 on 26th

Brown Thrasher – 4 birds on 26th

European Starling – 6 days, 40 birds (6.7/day); min: 1, med: 2, max: 31 on 25th

Cedar Waxwing – 3 days, 75 birds (25/day); max: 30 on 20th

Magnolia Warbler – 1 bird on 26th

Yellow-rumped Warbler – 2 days, 8 birds (4/day); max: 7 on 26th

American Redstart – 2 days, 6 birds (3/day); max: 5 on 20th

Ovenbird – 2 birds on 24th

Common Yellowthroat – 1 bird on 20th

Wilson’s Warbler – 1 bird on 26th

Eastern Towhee – 2 days, 6 birds (3/day); max: 5 on 24th

Chipping Sparrow – 5 days, 78 birds (15.6/day); min: 5, med: 15, max: 23 on 24th

White-throated Sparrow – 1 bird on 26th (first of the fall)

Northern Cardinal – 7 days, min. of 30 birds** (5/day); min: 2, med: 5, max: 10 on 20th

Rose-breasted Grosbeak – 13 birds on 20th

Red-winged Blackbird – 3 days, 19 birds (6.3/day); max: 15 on 25th

Brown-headed Cowbird – 1 bird on 24th

Baltimore Oriole – 3 days, 6 birds (2/day); max: 4 on 24th

House Finch – 7 days, min. of 31 birds* (6.2/day); min: 5, med: 7, max: 7 on 3 different days

American Goldfinch – 7 days, min. of 180 birds** (30/day); min: 20, med: 30, max: 50 on 26th

House Finch – 4 days, 14 birds (3.5/day); max: 10 on 20th
^ Numerical estimates were made on only 4 days for this species
* Numerical estimates were made on only 5 days for this species
** Numerical estimates were made on only 6 days for this species