124th Annual New Haven Christmas Bird Count Report
Wow! We had a great Christmas Count in New Haven this year. Everything lined up for a great
day. It was a mild fall season without any real cold days to drive lingering migrants south. The
weather on count day was pleasant and without precipitation. Nearly all the freshwater ponds
were open. And, as usual, we had a full roster of experienced and dedicated birders out in their
respective areas looking for and counting birds. We had a final total of 131 species, the highest
total in more than a decade and we found lots of rarities. Going in taxonomic order, the rarities
included the female Tufted Duck on Grannis Pond in East Haven, found the previous day by Paul
Smith (demonstrating the value of scouting in advance for the count), a male Harlequin Duck
found along the shore in East Haven, the Sandhill Crane (!) found in the Anderson Avenue
marsh in Milford by Corrie Folsom-O’Keefe and her team, and the Northern Rough-winged
Swallow that surprised and delighted Frank Gallo and his crew in North Haven as it flew over
them. Steve Broker found a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher at Ora Avenue in East Haven (an extremely
rare find for this time of year) and Mark Aronson and his team found a House Wren in New
Haven. And then there were the birds at the Water Treatment Plant in Branford. Jim Hunter
and Courtney Bauknecht found several warbler species there including a Nashville and a Prairie
Warbler. And we belatedly realized (after photo review) that they also found a Philadelphia
Vireo! The Tufted Duck, Philadelphia Vireo, Sandhill Crane and Prairie Warbler were all new additions to our 124-year-old annual
census. Climate change has its upsides!
But it is not just about finding rarities. We are conducting an annual census to monitor the
ever-changing populations of the bird species in our area in late fall/early winter and we are
part of an international project that is carrying out this important work. This year’s count was
also notable for all the new birders who joined our birding teams. And parts of the compilation
dinner and even the field activities were recorded for educational purposes so hopefully more
people will become aware of our efforts and join us in the future.
I am extremely grateful to all 98 (!) people who participated in this year’s New Haven Christmas
Bird Count and most especially to the area captains who work hard to organize their teams and
report their data to me in a timely fashion. We are already looking forward to next year’s CBC.
The complete results of the count are as follows (rare birds in CAPS):
Brant, 1014; Canada Goose, 5393; Mute Swan, 77; Wood Duck, 9; Northern Shoveler, 5;
Gadwall, 138; American Wigeon, 64; Mallard, 743; American Black Duck, 270; Northern Pintail,
8; Green-winged Teal, 97; Redhead, 2; Ring-necked Duck, 690; TUFTED DUCK, 1; Greater Scaup,
340; Lesser Scaup, 35; HARLEQUIN DUCK, 1; Surf Scoter, 12; White-winged Scoter, 7; Black
Scoter, 2; Long-tailed Duck, 206; Bufflehead, 340; Common Goldeneye, 142; Hooded
Merganser, 227; Common Merganser, 14; Red-breasted Merganser, 126; Ruddy Duck, 1; Wild
Turkey, 55; Pied-billed Grebe, 2; Horned Grebe, 44; Rock Pigeon, 884; Mourning Dove, 572;
Clapper Rail, 9; Virginia Rail, 7; American Coot, 9; SANDHILL CRANE, 1; Black-bellied Plover, 7;
Killdeer, 12; Ruddy Turnstone, 1; Sanderling, 15; Dunlin, 8; Purple Sandpiper, 14; Greater
Yellowlegs, 1; Ring-billed Gull, 1249; Herring Gull, 2543; Great Black-backed Gull, 27; Redthroated Loon, 14; Common Loon, 27; Great Cormorant, 10; Double-crested Cormorant,
4;Great Blue Heron, 41; GREAT EGRET, 1; Black Vulture, 27; Turkey Vulture, 63; Northern
Harrier, 6; Sharp-shinned Hawk, 6; Cooper’s Hawk, 23; Bald Eagle, 19; Red-shouldered Hawk,
33; Red-tailed Hawk, 70; Eastern Screech Owl, 21; Great Horned Owl, 9; Barred Owl, 3; Belted
Kingfisher, 26; Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, 38; Red-bellied Woodpecker, 200; Downy
Woodpecker, 207; Hairy Woodpecker, 55; Pileated Woodpecker, 19; Northern Flicker, 99;
American Kestrel, 2; Merlin, 2; Peregrine Falcon, 4; Monk Parakeet, 22; Eastern Phoebe, 2;
PHILADELPHIA VIREO, 1; Blue Jay, 616; American Crow, 1228; Fish Crow, 878; crow, sp., 24;
Common Raven, 29; Black-capped Chickadee, 464; Tufted Titmouse, 318; Horned Lark, 25;
NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW, 1; Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 16; Golden-crowned Kinglet,
48; Red-breasted Nuthatch, 5; Brown Creeper, 8; BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER, 1; HOUSE WREN,
1; Winter Wren, 28; Marsh Wren, 7; Carolina Wren, 274; European Starling, 3192; Gray Catbird,
17; Brown Thrasher, 1; Northern Mockingbird, 117; Eastern Bluebird, 72; Hermit Thrush, 12;
American Robin, 1173; Cedar Waxwing, 149; House Sparrow, 1078; American Pipit, 32; House
Finch, 324; Purple Finch, 7; Pine Siskin, 1; American Goldfinch, 348; Chipping Sparrow, 13; Field
Sparrow, 37; American Tree Sparrow, 22; Fox Sparrow, 15; Dark-eyed Junco, 505; Whitecrowned Sparrow, 4; White-throated Sparrow, 1148; Savannah Sparrow, 41; Song Sparrow,
548; Swamp Sparrow, 65; Eastern Towhee, 22; Red-winged Blackbird, 340; Brown-headed
Cowbird, 97; Rusty Blackbird, 2; Common Grackle, 3381; ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, 5;
NASHVILLE WARBLER, 1; COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, 1; Palm Warbler, 3; PINE WARBLER, 1;
Yellow-rumped Warbler, 21; PRAIRIE WARBLER, 1; and Northern Cardinal, 294.
The participants were:
Jean Adamus, Dewitt Allen, Ross Allen, Erin Alvey, Ralph Amodei, Toby Appel, Mark Aronson,
Dan Barvir, Alaleya Bauer, Patrick Bauer, Zydalis Bauer, Courtney Baukrecht, Ade BenSalahuddin, Luis Berrios, Betty Lou Blumberg, Stephen Broker, Lauren Brown, Nate Bryant,
Cheryl Cape, Gilles Carter, Diane Chodkowski, Nancy Clark, David Collier, Jim Cortina, Michael
DiGioia, Bobbie Fisher, Corrie Folsom-O’Keefe, Scott Funston, Frank Gallo, Mark Grogan, Shane
Grogan, Peter Grund, Jen Herbst, Margaret Hofmeister, Michael Horn, Patricia Horn, Julian
Hough, James Hunter, Kimberly Jannarone, Deborah Johnson, Leslie Johnson, Lynn Jones, David
Keller, Bernice Lattanzi, Michael Lavorgna, Carol Lemmon, Gary Lemmon, Cathy Leahy, Patrick
Leahy, Kahea Levita, Cody Limber, Alex Lin-Moore, Michael Loewenberg, Ann Marie Lorello,
Donna Lorello, Chris Loscalzo, Alan Malina, Frank Mantlik, Ellsworth Matthias, Jack Matthias,
Steve Mayo, Flo McBride, John McEchern, Pat McNichol, Devan Merico, Linda Meyer, Allison
Middlemass, Judy Moore, Gina Nichol, John Oshlick, Beverly Propen, Bill Rankin, Daniel
Rathbun, Laurie Reynolds, Jason Rieger, Elle Rinaldi, Alison Robey, Lee Schlesinger, Abby
Sesselberg, Arthur Shippee, Paul Smith, Nancy Specht, Charla Spector, Steve Spector, Brian
Stacey, Loren Sterman, Howie Sternberg, Maria Stockmal, Tashi, Tommie Thornhill, Elizabeth
Triana, John Triana, Lisa Wahle, Ryan Wirtes, Marianne Vahey, Iris Zahn and Molly Zahn.
