01 January 13, 1963 - The 1962 Suffolk County Christmas Bird Count
"The Christmas Bird Census"
Exclusive Sunday Review Sketch by Dennis Puleston of Brookhaven
Focus on Nature by Paul Stouteriburgh
By GUEST WRITER —
GILBERT S RAYNOR
The 1962 Suffolk County
Christmas Bird Count
I am sure you are all anxious
to read this week's column be-
cause it represents the highlight
in winter birding, The Christmas
Count. To tabulate it and give
meaning to its many figures;
there is no better person. than
the coordinator of the c o u n t,
Gilbert Raynor who has done ph.
for many years.
The tenth annual Central .Suf -,
folk County Christmas, Bird Count
was held on Dec 27 in the lif4en
mile diameter circle extending,
from Yaphank to Riverhead, izrom"'
Brookhaven to ''Westhampton and
from Wading River south to Mor-
iches Inlet. Thirty -two observers;;
in nine parties were afield from
sunrise to sunset and travelled
404 miles, 336 by car and 68 on.;:.
foot while covering woodlands,
swamps, salt marshes, pond s,
creeks, bays, the outer beach
and the ocean front. This con-
certed effort yielded a total of
33206 birds of 115 species com-
pared with last years total of
18667 birds of 115 species and our
highest previous count of individ-
uals, 28785 in 1960. Included in
the list were 28 species of water-
fowl, 6 of hawks, 7 of shorebirds,
4 of gulls, 4 of owls, 4 of wrens,
5 of warblers, 5 of blackbirds
and 18 of sparrows and finches.
As described in this column
last year, these Christmas counts
have been taken annually for over
sixty years all over North
America. In 1961 a record total
of 661 were reported to the spon-
soring agency, the National Audu-
bon Society. Analyses of t h e s e
counts enables ornithologists to
study such things as changes in
population levels, shifts in win-
tering areas and the effects of
weather on various species. Even
in our small area, our ten years
of record enables us to estimate
the normal or average wintering
population of many species and
to detect any marked changes in
abundance which may occur.
Among the rarities discovered
this year were a Black- throated
Blue Warbler at East Moriches,
a Willet near Moriches Inlet and
2 Lincoln's Sparrows at Mastic,
all species which normally depart
for the south by mid -October and
which have seldom or never been
previously recorded on Long Is-
land in the winter. Other uncom-
mon birds were 2 Whistling
Swans, 1 Snow Goose, 2 B a l d
Eagles, 1 Barn Owl, 1 Yellow -
breasted Chat and 1 Yellowthzoat.
In addition, three rare species,
the Golden Eagle, Pigeon Hawk
and Eastern Phoebe, were seen
during the census period but were
missed on the day of the count.
As usual, four species accounted
for the bulk of the individuals.
7861 Greater Scaup, 4129 Black
Ducks 3594 Herring Gulls and
7405 Starlings made up 22989 of
the 33206 birds counted. H o w-
ever, larger than normal num-
bers were found of several other
species. 681 Mourning Do v es
eclipsed our 1961 record of 185.
Other varieties at their ten year
peaks were as follows with previ-
ous high counts in parentheses:
Red - breasted Merganser 254 (151),
Ring - billed Gull 711 (275), Bon -
aparte's Gull 129 (33), Belted
Kingfisher 18 (9), Downy Wood -
pecker 103. (.48), Catbird 8 (4),
Myrtle Warbler 154 (93) but only
3 in 1961, House Finch 24 (5) and
Snow Bunting 191 (54). Bobwhite
at 183 were up from only 82 in
,1961 but still below their 1959
-and 1960 peak of 245.
I4 .! In contrast, a number of
species were rarer than usual.
1 Red- tailed Hawk a n d 3
Marsh Hawks were found. Rails
were low with only the Virginia
detected. Northern finches such
as CAmbeaks, Crossvills and Red -
polls were completely a b s e n t
while many small birds w e r e
found only in small numbers. For
instance, 246 Slate- colored Juncos
compared with 716 in 1961 and 30
Savannah Sparrows, down from
133, were found. Four Towhees
constituted a normal count after
last year's record breaking 27.
In the ten years of bird count-
ing, 154 species have been found
in the area on the census day
and 5 others during the census
week. Of these, 53 have been
regular enough to be recorded
every year while 28 others were
found in 8 or 9 of the ten ,years.
In contrast, 18 were found only
once in ten years. Thus a quanti-
tative picture of our winter bird
life is gradually being built up
and the changes that are taking
place even in this short span are
being documented by'`khe faithful
efforts of our dedicateelpcal bird
students.
FIELD OBSERVATIONS.
For those of you who ha v e
feeders .I am sure you will all be
interested to know what the
Mackenzie's had at their feeder
at Christmas time.
Betty and Bert Mackenzie
Bayport
Chickadees (5)
House Finches (11)
Brown Thrasher
Mourning Doves (15)
Downy Woodpeckers (2)
Hairy Woodpecker
Tree Sparrows (4)
Blue Jays,(3)
Cardinals (2)
Cowbirds (38)
Starlings (60)
Song Sparrow (3)
House Sparrow' (14)
Field Sparrow.
White - throated Sparrow (7)
Redwing Blackbird (47)
Mallard
Goldfinch
Savannah Sparrow
Catbird
Robin
Swamp Sparrow