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January 12, 1984 - 109 Species Spotted on Orient Count1 6 . SECOND SECTION Birders Take to the Bushes ?lje *tlffolh Timeg January 12,1984 109 Species Spotted on Orient Count By PAULSTOUTENBURGH This year, the Audubon Christmas Bird Count ranged from Fairbanks, Alaska, south to the Pacific Canal Area, Repub- lic of Panama, and from St. Johns, Newfoundland. west to Adak, Alaska. A total of 1453 counts are included, 190 from Canada, 1241 from the United States, 13 from Middle America, eight from the West Indies, and one from South Amer- ica. The count is now in its 84th year. Young and old go out into the countryside and count as many bird species as they can find. Only qualified people partici- pate, for all of the collected information is later published in the inch -thick July issue of American Birds. Much of this information is used to check increases and decreases of bird populations, their habitat, distribution and other pertinent scientific information. Besides all this, it is a fun day for people to get into the outdoors once again. I had participated in the Montauk (Gardiners Island) and Central Suffolk (East Moriches) counts earlier.Luck was with us. We got through those counts on good days but when our Orient Dec. 29 date came along, the prediction of rain and snow cast a gloom over our hopes for a good day. Therefore, we postponed it to the 30th and were rewarded by an almost perfect day. The thermometer read a cool 20 degrees at 6 a.m. and as people arrived at the house for a cup of coffee and a donut to pick up their area lists many thought we were going to have a tough one. In reality the day only got better as it went on. One of Our Highest Counts We had nine parties out in a 15 -mile circle with its center on Hay Beach, Shelter Island; two on the southside, Sag Harbor, three on Shelter Island, and four here on the north shore. From before dawn til darkness the groups were out scanning any bird that moved. At the end of the day as 30 or more exhausted people called out their lists, we hit 109 species, making it one of the best counts we've had in this area in 17 years. The group I headed up took the Orient area that starts at the causeway and runs to the point. We had three cars and were soon to pick up a fourth along the way. Scoters and oldsquaw ducks were the first to be added to the list at the causeway. These rugged winter ducks give you the impression they actually enjoy the cold weather. Oldsquaws are handsome ducks that frolic and splash about as they move from one location to another. They are fast flying and one of our true winter ducks. The males with their long tails and contrasting black and white colors make them easy to identify. As the group moved to the rendezvous we had previously set up with our Orient friends, we picked up groups of black ducks from the pond area along the causeway. How fortunate we are that the park district out there had the foresight to set this area up as a sanctuary, making the marsh area a mecca for wildlife. On closer examination of the black ducks on the water, we could see groups of gadwall mingled in with the blacks. This duck truly tests your ability to identify birds because they look so much like a black duck from a distance. As we walked the outer marsh another group was to walk along the -road edge. It was a good thing they did, for it was here they jumped the difficult clapper rail ftc�,Mg3 @M Mn,QMTg which we often miss on our counts. This bird should have been south a long time ago. Dawn was just breaking about this time and a small hawk streaked by looking for its first real meal of the day of a mouse or vole: a merlin for sure. Our list started to build. The common ones were added; song sparrows, juncos, tree sparrows, blue jays, house finches, mockingbirds, house sparrows. Ali, there's a good one -- a catbird. Someone said they got a brown creeper. Out to Check the Point By now we had worked our way through the fields and woods to the point where we huddled behind the lighting company's brick building to keep out of the fierce northwest wind that still had a real nip to it. Here we picked up horned grebes, more oldsquaws, common loon, red - breasted mergansers and, of course, the standard contingents of gulls. All these numbers were added to the others. We were surprised to see so few black - backed gulls and we wondered why. Not wanting to let the rocks way out on the very end of the point go by without checking them closely, I volunteered to walk out and check them. It was well worth it, for there out on one of the rocks was a purple sandpiper, our only true winter shorebird. We'd see other shore- birds but they would only be considered stragglers and not at home here during the cold winter months. One has to marvel how a bird can exist on a bleak wet rock picking small crustaceans out from among the rockweeds and barn- acles. Once again, we see that each species has its own niche. The state park at Orient has always been good to us and we had previously called to see if we could hitch a ride on one of their patrols as it went out. Sure enough, they cooperated and we got aboard one of their four -wheel drive trucks and headed out. Here we had a ?�. Ll Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh ORIENT BIRD COUNT- -Over 40 people participated in this year's Orient Christmas Bird Count. There were two parties working the Sag Harbor area, three parties on Shelter Island and four parties covered the north shore from Peconic to Orient all within a 15 mile circle with the center on Hay Beach, Shelter Island. after - Christmas house. On the wood stove was a pot of hot Russian tea that reached the cockles of our chilly hearts and about the tree - lighted living room, slumped in chairs, were people complete- ly relaxed. After a hearty day in the field and a hot drink, everyone seemed to melt into that special feeling of relaxation. Our tallies added up with great shouts of glee as the list grew and new species were added. With the final total added up and the bowls of fish chowder consumed along with Barbara's special cheese- `One of the best counts... in 17 years' hoped to see our greatest concentration of ducks and shorebirds. It, like the causeway, acts as a magnet for wildlife and they can usually be found here in great numbers. We were not disappoint- ed and found 30 turnstones and 6 sanderlings (shorebirds) but the duck population was down. We found no great flock concentrations of black ducks or great rafts of Scaup as we usually do. And even the scoters were not as heavily concentrated along the south shore of the park as they usually were. Could it have been that terrible cold snap we had that moved them away? All day we walked and by evening our bodies felt as if they could go no more. So we headed home in the lingering light of dusk. Some had already reached our place, for the cars were scattered about- the lawn. Inside was the warmth of an cake, the day was complete. I'm sure everyone could have stayed right where they were all night. Most eyes were already drooping. The chatter slowed down, which told us it was time for many to leave. So between handshakes and goodbyes and occasional kisses, small groups left, cars started up and soon Barbara and I were left alone in our candlelit home. We were happy the group had such a great day and we had such a good list. We'd almost broken our record for this area, but not quite. But then again, there's always next year. Perhaps that will be the year to top them all. (EDITOR'S NOTE: The preceding article originally was scheduled to ap- pear in the Jan. 5 edition.) BIRD SPECIES SEEN Bird species seen on Orient count: Com. Loon, Red - throated Loon, Red - necked Grebe, Horned Grebe, Pied - billed Grebe, Great Cormorant, Double- crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Black- crowned Night Heron, Whistling Swan, Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Brant, Mallard, Black Duck, Gadwall, Pintail, Redhead, Canvasback, Greater Scaup, Lesser Scaup, Com. Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Oldsquaw, White- winged Scoter, Surf Scoter, Black Scoter, Ruddy Duck, Hooded Merganser, Red - breasted Merganser, Sharp- shinned Hawk. Red - tailed Hawk, Marsh Hawk, Gyrfalcon, Peregrine Falcon, Merlin, Am. Kestrel, Bobwhite, Ring- necked Pheasant, Clapper Rail, Am. Coot, Ruddy Turnstone, Am. Woodcock, Purple Sandpiper, Sanderling, Great Black- backed Gull, Herring Gull, Ring - billed Gull, Bonaparte's Gull, Laughing Gull, Rock Dove, Mourning Dove, Screech Owl, Great Horned Owl, Short -eared Owl, Belted Kingfisher. Com. (Yel. -sh.) Flicker, Red - bellied Woodpecker, Red - headed Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Horned Lark, Blue Jay, Com. Crow, Black- capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, White- breasted Nuthatch, Red - breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Winter Wren, Carolina Wren, Long - billed Marsh Wren, Mockingbird, Gray Catbird, Brown Thrasher, Am. Robin, Hermit Thrush, E. Bluebird, Golden- crowned Kinglet, Ruby- crowned Kinglet, Cedar Waxwing, Starling, Yellow - rumped (Myrtle) Warbler, Palm Warbler, House Sparrow, Common Murre. E. Meadowlark, Red - winged Blackbird, N. (Baltimore) Oriole, Rusty Blackbird, Com. Grackle, Brown- headed Cowbird, Cardinal, Evening Grosbeak, Purple Finch, House Finch, Pine Siskin, Am. Goldfinch, Rufous -sided Towhee, Savannah Sparrow, Savannah (Ipswich) Sparrow, Sharp - tailed Sparrow, Dark -eyed (Slate -col.) Junco, Tree Sparrow, Field Sparrow, White- throated Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Snow Bunting.