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January 14, 1962 - The 1961 Central Suffolk Christmas Bird CensusPair of King Eiders (left) and Common Eiders Exclusive Sunday Review Sketch by Dennis Puleston. of Brookhaven Focus on Nature The following article by Gilbert Raynor of Manorville is the second in a series on "life Christmas Sount." The first part. I am sure, by now, has whetted your curiosity, and so today we are fortunate indeed to have the organizer and coordinator of our local count tell us of the results. PS. The 1961 Central Suffolk Christmas Bird Census by GILBERT S RAYNOR Three weeks ago, this column described the origin and development of the Audubon Christmas bird counts and summarized results of previous Central Suffolk County censuses. This year, the count was taken on Dec 26 by 32 observers in nine parties, each covering a separate section lof the region which extends from Yaphank to Riverhead and from Brookhaven to Westhampton. Good weather and thorough coverage contributed to a record high count of 115 species, 12 more than last year and above the previous high of 114 species in 1959. As evi- dence of the zealous efforts of the observers, it was reported the nine parties totaled 91 hours of observation, traveled miles by foot and 416 miles by car . —Although space does not permit a complete listing of all birds observed, some of the highlights of the 'census can be presented. Five species, Common Eider, King Eider, Long -eared Owl, Palm Warbler and Yellow- throat, were recorded for the first time In the nine years the census has been taken. The two Eider ducks are present in small numbers off Montauk Point every w i n t e r, but are seldom found further west on the Island. The Long-eared Owl is a rather rare, secretive and uncommonly seen owl that sometimes winters in small flocks in dense ever- green groves and feeds almost exclusively on mice. The Palm Warbler is a common migrant which occasionally remains 'into the colder months, while t h e Yellow -throat is one of our co n- snonest summer birds but very rarely attempts to winter this far north. A number of other species were listed that have been seen on one or more previous counts but are still rare at this season. These include 3 Common Cormorants, I Gadwall, 1 Shoveller, 1 Wood Duck, 1 Bald Eagle, 1 P i g e o n Hawk, 2 Wood Thrushes, 4 Ruby - rrowned Kinglets, 1 Water Pipit, I Yellow- breasted Chat and 9 Redpolls. Four species, as usual, turned nrt to be the most abundant in 'he area. They are: Starling, 4189, Herring Gull, 2994, Black Duck, 9.505 and Greater Scaup, 2313. All, however, were found in aller numbers than in the two preceding years. Thus, the total Count this year was only 18,668 individuals of all species com- pared to over 28,000 in 1959 and 1960. Other species of which 200 or more individuals were recorded are: S l a t e- colored Junco 716, House Sparrow 580, Black - capped Chickadee 412, Mallard 331, Mute Swan 316, Blue Jay 284, Tree Sparrow 262, Canvas -back 251, Song Sparrow 206 and W h i t e- throated Sparrow 200. Only six species were distri- buted generally enough to be re- corded by all nine parties, Mute Swan, Herring Gull, Crow, Star- ling, Tree Sparrow and S o n g Sparrow but 10 additional species were found by 8 out of the 9 groups. In contrast, 32 species were found by one party only. A number of varieties we r e found in significantly h i g h e r numbers than ever before. These include 158 Bufflehead, 7 Rough - legged Hawks, 20 Sparrow Hawks, 3 Clapper Rails, 10 Kill- deer, 7 Woodcock, 33 Bonaparte's Gulls, 185 Mourning Doves, 9 Belted Kirikfishers, 18 H a i r y Woodpeckers, 167 Horned Larks, 412 Black- capped Chickadees, 27 Towhees, 716 Slate - colored Juncos, 200 White - throated Sparrows and 206 Song Sparrows. The Towhee is, perhaps, t h e outstanding member of this group. The previous high count was only 5 but observations in other sec- tions of Long Island confirm that this species is wintering in record numbers this year- A few species were considera- bly scarcer than normal including Bobwhite, Flicker, Golden -crown- ed Kinglet and Myrtle Warbler while four species which have been found . on most previous counts were not observed, t.h i year. These are Gannet,. Old - Squaw, Purple Finch and Ipswich Although the bulk of the species f o u n d are regular winter resi- dents, a surprisingly large num- ber of the song birds are species that are normally considered sumn:mer residents or migrants but species of which a few indivi- by Paul Stoutenburgh To the Palm Warble -s, Yellow - throat, Wood Thrushes, Y e 1 1 ow- breasted Chat and Tcwhees men- tioned above can be a d d e d Mockingbird, Catbird, B r o w n Thrasher, Long and Short- billed Marsh Wrens, Rabin, H e r m i t T h r u s h, Ruby- crowned Kinglet and a number of others. In the opposite category, far northern birds that periodically wander southward in the winter, are the Evening Gresbeak, Com- mon Redpoll, Pine Siskin and Lapland Longspur. This census gives an indication of the wealth of bird life that can be found in one small section of Long Island even in the winter season, and observat'ons in other parts of the Island would add many species to the local list. Thus, no season and no location 'is without its quota of interesting and attractive birds to claim the attention of the alert bird watch- FIELD OBSERVATIONS Roy Latham of Orient reports: Jars 1 — Ruby- crowned Kinglet Savannah Sparrow Jan 2 — Mourning Dove Pipit Jan 7 — Green.winged Teal (2) J Bennett of E Malrion report's: January 9 & 10 — Dicksissel L R Ernest, Southampton reports: Jan 7 — Purple Grackle (2) at feeder Towhee Rusty Blackbird -- Quogue Jan 8 — Killdeer (3) — Bridgehampton Wood Duck — East Hampton Snow Buntings (10) East Hampton Red - breasted Nuthatch — Montauk Pt. Bonaparte's Gulls — Montauk Pt.