[Tweeters] Olympia CBC 2021 Preliminary Results

[bill shelmerdine]

Greetings All,

The Olympia Christmas Bird Count was held last Sunday, December 19.  Here is some very preliminary information from the count having heard back from 10 of 16 count teams, so the numbers will definitely go up and perhaps a few more species may turn up.  So far I have just scanned results and talked to a few Sector Leaders but have not started to compile numbers.  Actual species count is not known at this time, but I would expect a below average species and numbers count from what I know so far.  Here’s what I have so far.

The weather was really pretty good for count day and really spectacular when considering it was sandwiched in between to very wet, cold, and miserable days on both Saturday and Monday.  Cold weather probably kept numbers down as many parties noted low numbers in their preliminary assessments.  Pre-dawn conditions were generally good for owling with several teams giving it a go.  So far I have only heard of Great-horned and Barred being tallied.  Great-horned were very vocal and widely reported.

Briefly scanning the count tallies that I do have, here’s what I know.  No real rarities have yet been reported for the count, however, several good birds were seen.  From my perspective, the most notable birds so far reported were:  Snow Goose, Trumpeter Swan, Redhead, Harlequin Duck, Long-tailed Duck, Red-Shouldered Hawk, California and Iceland (Thayer’s) Gull, Black Phoebe, American Dipper, Lesser Goldfinch, and Orange-crowned Warbler.  Others like White-throated and Lincoln’s Sparrow, and Western Meadowlark can be tough to find and were represented by at least one individual.

So far very low numbers for Barrows Goldeneye, Ruddy Duck and many others.  Possible misses so far include:  Small Owls, Eared Grebe, Hermit Thrush, Red Crossbill, and ???  All for now, I will update participants as numbers come in though I will be out of town for several days so it will take some time to tally final results.

Happy holidays and happy CBCing.

Bill Shelmerdine

Olympia CBC Compiler

12/21/2021
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