2008-2009 Christmas Bird Counts
Peekskill Count
By John Askildsen and Michael Newhouse, Count Compilers
The Peekskill Christmas Bird Count was conducted
on Saturday, December 20, under a blanket of freshly fallen snow. While the 8-10
inches of snowfall provided a “Currier & Ives” backdrop, the count’s
participants had a rough time getting around to count all the birds.
Nevertheless, 91 species in total were tallied,
which is about average. Highlights included almost 5,000 Canada Geese, and 16
species of waterfowl, 40 Wild Turkeys, 14 species of raptors including 19 Bald
Eagles, one Northern Goshawk, one Rough-legged Hawk and, three species of owls.
There was one Red-breasted Nuthatch, 239 American Robins, 10 Hermit Thrushes,
204 Northern Cardinals, 23 Rusty Blackbirds, and three White-winged Crossbills.
The Crossbill is a species of the boreal
forests, which rarely reaches the Mid-Atlantic region.
“Lowlights” included low numbers in general of
most waterfowl species, the continued absence of Ruffed Grouse and Ring-necked
Pheasant, and no Great Horned Owls. Waterfowl were down due to mostly frozen
waters and heavy snow. The grouse and pheasant are gone because of the almost
complete loss of proper habitat. Bad weather kept birders inside the night
before the count with the result that no Great Horned Owls were counted. Great
Horned Owl is a common species in our area.
More than 30 people participated in the count,
and they are all to be commended for their efforts this year, considering the
previous day’s snowfall, which made getting around difficult. Teatown Lake
Reservation provided a warm and friendly location for the evening’s compilation
of birds and a delicious dinner in the old coach house with its large stone
hearth and blazing fire! Charles Roberto hosted the dinner and once again did a
fantastic job! Mike Newhouse of Ossining provided a PowerPoint program with
statistical data over the 54 years of the count. Ponie Sheehan of Ossining,
kindly took responsibility for taking in and accounting for all fees and other
monies. How can these volunteers
possibly be thanked enough? They are priceless. We look forward to seeing
everyone next year on the count!
Click to download a pdf of
the 2008-2009 Peekskill Christmas Bird Count data.
Main Christmas Bird
Count Page
Copyright © 2009 Bedford Audubon Society
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