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Audubon BirdLoop at Marymoor Park
2007 Christmas Bird Count (12/15/07) Highlights
The East Lake Washington Audubon Society (ELWAS) had its CBC on Saturday, December 15. It was cloudy and cool all day, but it didn't rain so was a pleasant day for birding. We had 48 people covering eight areas and ended up with 90 species, which compares to a high of 93 in 2002.
The total of 16,820 birds was the highest since 20,979 in 2002. ELWAS started doing a CBC in 1981, and except for 1982, 1983 and 1989 has done one every year. We had one first-time bird for our circle, a GRAY JAY that Gene Hunn found by hiking up Tiger Mt. by himself. High and low numbers of birds were:
306 CACKLING GEESE (Marymoor Park has had a high number of Cacklers the past couple of months)
Five REDHEAD ducks (only the 5th year they have been reported)
83 COMMON MERGANSERS (tied for the most ever reported)
4 RUDDY DUCKS (next-to lowest number reported; in 2006 none were found)
339 AMERICAN COOT (the highest number since 657 were reported in 1994)
It was a good year for woodpeckers with:
20 DOWNY WOODPECKERS being the 2nd highest recorded (22 have been recorded 4 times)
10 HAIRY WOODPECKERS tied for 1st with 2003
7 PILEATED WOODPECKERS tied for 1st with 2006
369 BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES was a high, topping 297 in 2005
64 WINTER WRENS beat 55 in 2004
347 GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS exceeded the 269 in 2001
5 VARIED THRUSHES was the lowest since 1991, when we had only 1
High of 53 YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS was way ahead of the 16 seen in 1993
34 PURPLE FINCHES exceeded the 27 in 2001
PINE SISKIN population really roared back with 1599 reported compared to the next highest of 852 in 1995.
Complete results for 2007 or any previous years are available by contacting Hugh Jennings at fieldtrip@elwas.org.
