LISLE ARBORETUM CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT
2005 Count Summary

The 57th Lisle-Arboretum Christmas Bird Count was held on Sunday, December 18, 2005. Snow up to 8" in depth lay on the ground, and the temperatures never rose above 16 degrees. Moderate winds from the west at 8 to 15 mph blew throughout the day. In spite of these cold conditions, the final tally of 80 species was a record for the count. [Note that due to an oversight on my part, I neglected to include the 1954 Lisle count in the count records, so that I had previously advertised this as the 56th Lisle-Arboretum CBC.]

GOOD BIRDS

One new species was added to the count list this year: Savannah Sparrow. Bob Fisher documented three Savannah Sparrows found by him, Donnie Dann, Dick Young, and Dennis Lane at Whalon Lake Forest Preserve. Savannah Sparrow had previously been a count week bird (in 1977) but had never been recorded before on count day.

Given that we recorded 80 species, there had to be some exciting finds. Here are the "Code 4" birds (in addition to the Savannah Sparrows noted above) that were located in the circle on count day.
  • Five Cackling Geese were observed at the Lemont Quarries by John Duran, Jed Hertz, Penny Kneisler, Luis Munoz and Marlys Oosting. We have recorded this species in both years (this and last) since this form was elevated to full species status by the American Ornithologists' Union. Nice documentation was submitted by Luis Munoz, who took this photograph of two of the birds with one Canada Goose.
  • One Northern Shoveler was also tallied at the Lemont Quarries, marking the eighth time this species has been recorded among the 57 counts. However, in five of the last seven years (including this year), we've had a shoveler..
  • Somewhat more likely to occur on our count were the two Hooded Mergansers that were tallied. These were also seen by the group of observers at the Lemont Quarries. This is the eighth straight year we've found this species (and the 14th time overall).
  • The three Red-breasted Mergansers (more Lemont Quarries birds) marked only the ninth occurrence of that species on the Lisle-Arb CBC.
  • A new record high count was set by three Peregrine Falcons. The old record high was just one bird, first set in 1964 and last equalled in 1998. This is only the fifth year that this raptor has appeared on the count. One of the falcons was spotted by Wes Serafin, Jim Phillips, and Walter Marcisz near to Saganashkee Slough. A second bird, found by Steve Huggins in Will County south of the Des Plaines River, was seen by him and Ken Wysocki, Rob Gough, and Wouter Faveyts. The third bird was noted by Glenn Giacinto in the Palos area.
  • An excellent find was the Virginia Rail that Jeff Chapman and Liza Gray observed at Hidden Lake Forest Preserve. Initially seen 30 feet away, the bird obligingly flew to within five feet of Liza and Jeff, along close observation for almost five minutes. This is only the second record of Virginia Rail for the circle, the other being from 1975.
  • Another record high count came from the seven Eurasian Collared-Doves that were tallied. This count broke the old record of two, set last year, when these doves were noted by Barb and Michael Tiffin at their feeders to mark the first record of the species on the Lisle count. Barb and Michael again had a pair at their feeders. In addition, Bob Fisher, Donnie Dann, and Urs Geiser added two more in Bolinbrook, and the others were spotted by Glenn Giacinto and Steve Huggins at a feeder in the Palos area.
  • The Ruby-crowned Kinglet observed by Penny Kneisler near the Lemont Quarries was the fifth in the last 15 years. This is a tough species to get on the count.
  • Gray Catbirds have been seen on only five previous counts, so that the one staked out at Cap Sauers Preserve before the count by Ken Wysocki, and seen by Ken, Steve Huggins, and Wouter Faveyts on count day, was a good find. This species was recorded for the first time this year on the Fermilab CBC, with three being found in that circle.
  • The one Lincoln's Sparrow found by Glenn Giacinto in the Palos area continued a trend: there was one Lincoln's Sparrow on the 2003 and 2004 counts as well. The only other records were two in 1976 and one in 1971.
  • Another nice find was the six Lapland Longspurs, tallied by Glenn Giacinto in the same area as the Lincoln's Sparrow. Longspurs are found only intermittently on the count, though we've had them in 15 years. The last time this species was recorded was in 2000 (with one bird seen), but then you have to go all the way back to 1986, when eight longspurs were seen.
  • Not since 1996 have we had Rusty Blackbird on the count, so the four that were seen by Marlys Oosting and Jed Hertz were a welcome additional to our tally.

HIGH COUNTS

An astounding total of 9,966 American Robins were observed. Most of these were in a huge flock of 8000+ birds that was counted by Walter Marcisz and Wes Serafin as the birds flew by in a continuous stream. This number is more than three times the previous high count for the circle.

Other counts that set new record highs or tied the old ones included:

  • 16 Mute Swans (the previous record was eight, set in 1998);
  • Five Northern Harriers (tying the five that were counted in 1977);
  • 15 Sharp-shinned Hawks (besting the mark of eight set in 2003);
  • 24 Cooper's Hawks (beating out the 20 from 2003);
  • 74 Eastern Bluebirds (continuing the pattern of breaking the record every other year, with 17 in 1999, 36 in 2001, and 42 in 2003);
  • 12 Hermit Thrushes (the previous high of seven was attained in both 2003 and 2004);
  • 38 Fox Sparrows (the last record was 30 in 2003; this year's 38 is also four times greater than the average of nine over the last 15 years);
  • 158 Song Sparrows (you have to go back to 1976 for the previous record high of 140, though the 138 in 2003 came close).

It is interesting that only a few years ago, Eastern Bluebird and Hermit Thrush were considered rare for the Lisle-Arb count. Now they are regular and are occurring in larger and larger numbers.

Some notably large tallies that didn't break records were the 429 Blue Jays (compared to an average of 238 over the last 15 counts), 47 Yellow-rumped Warblers (nearly twice the 15-year average of 25), and 305 White-throated Sparrows (two and an half times the 15-year average of 120).

LOW NUMBERS

In the other direction, Red-tailed Hawk numbers were lower than usual, with 68 tallied compared to the average of 92 over the last 15 years. American Kestrel numbers were low for the second straight year. Only 17 were noted this year, while the 15-year average is 31. Last year's total was 11.

American Crow numbers remained at record low levels, with only 74 counted this year. This is the lowest total since 1954. The numbers have steadily dwindled ever since the local West Nile Virus outbreak in 2002. In contrast, the 2001 total for American Crow was 832, and the average over the last 15 years is 742.

Just one Golden-crowned Kinglet was located in the circle. Though this species has been recorded in 55 of the 57 Lisle counts, it has been hard to find in odd-numbered years starting in 1995, and was totally absent in 1995 and 2000.

MISSES

We had very few misses. We found all of the "Code 2" birds on our tally sheet, and dipped on only four "Code 3" birds: Snow Goose, Lesser Scaup, Red-shouldered Hawk, and Long-eared Owl. Snow Goose and Red-shouldered Hawk have been seen on eight of the last 15 years, Long-eared Owl on seven, and Lesser Scaup on five.

THANKS, AND SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!

Thanks very much to all the field observers and feeder counters who made this a record-setting CBC this year!

Mark your calendars for December 17, 2006: the next Lisle-Arboretum Christmas Bird Count.


Last modified on 18 January 2016
by Geoffrey A. Williamson