LISLE ARBORETUM CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT
2006 Count Summary

The 58th Lisle-Arboretum Christmas Bird Count was held on Sunday, 17 December 2006. The weather contrasted markedly with that of the 2005 count: instead of 8" deep snow and 16 degree weather, we enjoyed temperature in the upper 40's and low 50's, peaking at 54 degrees. Moderate winds mostly from the northwest blew at most at 13 mph, but at times were calm. The conditions were very comfortable to bird in. The final tally surpassed last year's record species total: we amassed a list of 85 species!!! This achievement was made by 87 field participants and 12 feeder counters.

A special acheivement this year was the inclusion of 2 party hours by golf cart, thanks to Craig Taylor's team.

GOOD BIRDS

With 25 "code 4" species accumulated for the day's efforts, there's a lot to talk about in the way of good birds.

  • With eight Cackling Geese we are three for three in logging this species on the count since the form was elevated to full species status by the American Ornithologists' Union. Bob Morgan, Jenny Vogt, Leo Miller and Gary Moore spotted one bird flying with some Canada Geese at the end of their day in the Morton Arboretum, and Jimmy Giacinto documented another six at Will-Cook Road and 131st St.
  • Two Blue-winged Teal were noted by Penny Kneisler and Marlys Oosting flying from the Lemont Quarries. This species is a rare find and has been recorded on the count only twice previously (4 birds in 1997 and one in 1975).
  • Northern Shoveler was tallied in five of the last seven years, and the 3 found this year made it six out of the last eight. A female was found by one of the Area 4 groups in a quarry pond north of the Des Plaines River just east of Route 53, and the other two were in the Lemont Quarries.
  • Continuing the parade of Code-4 ducks were seven Northern Pintails found at Whalon Lake Forest Preserve by Urs Geiser, Jim Green, Kevin Maloney, Frank Sterrett, and Dick Young. Pintails have turned up in about one in every four counts in recent years.
  • Less usual were the two Canvasbacks that Urs Geiser and Bob Fisher saw at Whalon Lake Forest Preserve. You have to go back to 1986 for the last one recorded on count day, though count week birds surfaced in both 2003 and 2004.
  • Though we found no scaup on the count, an amazing 129 Ring-necked Ducks were tallied. Most of these were at Whalon Lake Forest Preserve, observed by Urs Geiser, Dick Young, Frank Sterrett, Mary McKay, Kevin Maloney, and Jim Green. In Lemont Township, John Duran and Jeff Smith located an additional four. This species was recorded in three straight years from 2001 to 2003, but prior to that you had to go back to 1993 for the last time they occurred. The number this year was incredible: it was 16 times larger than the previous record high count of what seems a paltry eight from way back in 1967.
  • A Bufflehead was another of the Lemont Quarry finds. Though this year marks only the seventh time the species has been recorded, it has occurred on four of the last six counts.
  • For the ninth straight year we tallied Hooded Mergansers, with four noted this year. The Whalon Lake group led by Urs found two among the ducks there, and Wes Serafin and Walter Marcisz had two on Saganashkee Slough. This species will be "demoted" to Code 3 for next year's count.
  • Walter and Wes also had four Red-breasted Mergansers at Saganashkee Slough. This is the ninth time in the last 15 years we've recorded it, but it was noted on count day just once prior to those years.
  • A female Ruddy Duck was a nice find by Randy Shonkwiler, Luis Munoz, Jed Hertz, and company. This bird was another gem from the Lemont Quarries waterfowl hotspot. This duck species has been seen on five Lisle-Arb counts, with 4 in 1999 and 22 in 2001 the only other recent tallies.
  • Another record was broken with four Pied-billed Grebes seen this year. Three of these were found at Hidden Lake Forest Preserve by Leo Miller, Jenny Vogt, John Leonard, and Bob Morgan. The fourth was another of the Whalon Lake finds, with Bob Fisher and Vicky Sroczinski discovering that one. Recent years in which these grebes have been seen include a string of five straight from 1998 to 2002. Prior to that you have to go back to 1988 for the next most recent tally. The previous record of three Pied-billeds came from 2001.
  • Justin Pepper documented an immature Black-crowned Night-Heron in the Des Plaines River corridor. We don't record this species often; the six years that we did are 1972, 1986, 1989, 1992, 1997, and now 2006.
  • Three Bald Eagles, all adults, were found. Two were seen by Wes Serafin at Saganashkee Slough, and one was noted by Jed Hertz when it flew over the Lemont Quarries.
  • Late in the day the Greene Valley Forest Preserve Crew (Urs Geiser, Bob Fisher, Dick Young, and Frank Sterrett) spotted two Killdeer. The last time were recorder this species was 1998. It's occurred on three of the last 15 counts.
  • Five Eurasian Collared-Doves were counted. Three of these were located by Bob Fisher and Vicky Szroczinski in a Bolingbrook neighborhood. The other two were the regulars at Barb and Michael Tiffin's feeders. The Tiffins put this species on the Lisle count list for the first time in 2004, and we saw them last year, too.
  • Diane and William Murphy observed a group of 10 Monk Parakeets in Hickory Hills. They are nested on a cell tower in the area. This is a record-high count for this species, beating the old record of four that was set way back in 1975. They weren't recorded after 1975 until one was seen in 2004 (also in this general area).
  • Among the five species of owls that we logged was a lone, calling Barred Owl that chose the opportune time of 10:30am to sound off in Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve. This bird was heard by Geoff Williamson, Pat Donahue, Marci and Ivars Ambats, Glenn Gabanski, Brian Kapusta, Tom Kelly, Barbara Pearce, and Steve Phillips.
  • Three Short-eared Owls also helped the owl tally reach five species. These were seen toward dusk at Greene Valley Forest Preserve by Bob Fisher, Urs Geiser, and Dick Young.
  • The last of the Code-4 owls was a Northern Saw-whet Owl from the Morton Arboretum, seen there by Jenny Vogt, Dave Wagner, Donna Granback, and John Leonard in the usual weeping evergreen.
  • A great find was Walter Marcisz and Wes Serafin's Pileated Woodpecker. This elusive bird was finally recorded on the count after a 23 year hiatus, though we suspect they always could be in the circle (testified to by the count-week-only tally of 1997). The 1983 bird and this year's are the only two to ever be recorded on the count.
  • Gray Catbirds have been seen on only six prior counts, making the one noted by Leo Miller and Bob Morgan in the Morton Arboretum quite special. They were seen in 1980, 1983 (two birds), 1993, 1997, 2003 (two birds again), 2005 and now in 2006.
  • Karen Fisher found a male Eastern Towhee at Oldfield Oaks Forest Preserve. One of these birds is seen roughly ever four or five years.
  • Bob Fisher and Vicky Sroczynski put the one Savannah Sparrow on our day's tally with a bird at Greene Valley Forest Preserve. This species has been recorded only once previously on count day (with three of them in 2005!), with a count week appearance in 1977. An excellent find!
  • John Duran and Jeff Smith spotted a lone Lapland Longspur in with a group of Snow Buntings in Lemont Township. This species is hit-or-miss, so it helps to have keen eyes pick one out. It's been recorded on just three of the last 15 counts (including this one).
  • In addition to the group of 35 Snow Buntings that John and Jeff saw in the company of their longspur, Jimmy Giacinto and Anton Beltuska located another one. Jimmy took some nice photos of this one. Like the longspur, this species is hit or miss, with records of it on only three of the last 15 counts.
Though not technically a "Code-4" bird, Paul Sweet's Oregon Junco was an excellent find. This form was noted regularly in the 1950's, 60's and 70's, but has been marked down in the records only a handful of times since then.

HIGH COUNTS

We set eight new record high counts this year:

  • As noted above, the 129 Ring-necked Ducks blew away the previous record of eight that was set in 1967.
  • Also previously noted were the four Pied-billed Grebes that bested the mark of three from 2001.
  • The 10 Monk Parakeets topped the old record of four from 1975.
  • We had 97 Hairy Woodpeckers. The previous high count, set in 2003, was 67.
  • Another woodland bird, the White-breasted Nuthatch, also accounted for one of the eight record-setting totals. This year we had 247 in comparison with 221 in 2003, the previous high.
  • The 26 Carolina Wrens broke the old record of 17, set in 1975.
  • I'm sure you'll be thrilled to know that this year's total of 7332 European Starlings squeaked past 2001's old record of 7312. Mary Ann Mahoney's feeder tallies arrived just before the totals were finalized, and they put the starlings over the top!
  • The 766 American Goldfinches also set a new record. The old record of 715 was set just three years ago.

LOW NUMBERS

American Crow numbers, though still low at 117, finally look like they may be rebounding. There are up about 60% from last year's count of 74.

The tally of 283 Cedar Waxwings was well below the recent average of 428 over the last 15 years. Every so often, however, there are years in which numbers of this species are reduced.

I was surprised that we saw only 18 Yellow-rumped Warblers. With the warm weather I thought we'd get more then usual (an average of 26), rather than less.

MISSES

In spite of the diversity of unusual waterfowl, we missed "Code 3" ducks: Wood Duck, American Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, and Lesser Scaup. Other "Code 3" misses were Ring-necked Pheasant (recorded in just two of the last seven counts), Long-eared Owl (apparently they were around, we just couldn't find them!), Horned Lark (tough nowadays), and Brown-headed Cowbird. Brown-headed Cowbird was the one species that got a big cheer at the Countdown Dinner when the tally amounted to a big zero.

"Code 2" misses were Common Grackle (we had just 16 Red-winged Blackbirds), Purple Finch, and Pine Siskin (Jody Zamirowski's feeder didn't pull through for us on the siskins!).

THE TALLY

Here are the grand totals. For a breakdown by area, see the 2006 Count Totals sheet (this is a pdf document).

Below, for those species whose total is greater than 25% above the average count for the last 15 years, I have noted "(high)" after the total. For those where the count was at least 25% below the average I've noted "(low)". Record high counts are also marked. The "Code 4" species appear in all-capitals.

 

Snow Goose
1
(low)
CACKLING GOOSE
8
-
Canada Goose
8640
-
Mute Swan
2
(low)
Wood Duck
0
(low)
Gadwall
112
(low)
American Wigeon
0
(low)
American Black Duck
10
(low)
Mallard
1762
-
BLUE-WINGED TEAL
2
-
NORTHERN SHOVELER
3
-
NORTHERN PINTAIL
7
-
Green-winged Teal
0
(low)
CANVASBACK
2
-
RING-NECKED DUCK
129
(RECORD HIGH)
Lesser Scaup
0
(low)
BUFFLEHEAD
1
-
Common Goldeneye
2
(low)
HOODED MERGANSER
4
-
Common Merganser
124
(high)
RED-BREASTED MERGANSER
4
-
RUDDY DUCK
1
-
Ring-necked Pheasant
0
(low)
PIED-BILLED GREBE
4
(RECORD HIGH)
Great Blue Heron
24
(high)
BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON
1
-
BALD EAGLE
3
-
Northern Harrier
2
(high)
Sharp-shinned Hawk
4
-
Cooper's Hawk
24
(high)
Red-shouldered Hawk
1
-
Red-tailed Hawk
97
-
Rough-legged Hawk
2
-
American Kestrel
26
-
American Coot
27
(high)
KILLDEER
2
-
Wilson's Snipe
3
(high)
Ring-billed Gull
543
(low)
Herring Gull
119
-
Rock Pigeon
986
(low)
EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE
5
-
Mourning Dove
1211
(high)
MONK PARAKEET
10
(RECORD HIGH)
Eastern Screech-Owl
35
(high)
Great Horned Owl
24
(high)
BARRED OWL
1
-
Long-eared Owl
0
(low)
SHORT-EARED OWL
3
-
NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL
1
-
Belted Kingfisher
14
(high)
Red-headed Woodpecker
2
(low)
Red-bellied Woodpecker
179
(high)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
6
(high)
Downy Woodpecker
293
(high)
Hairy Woodpecker
97
(RECORD HIGH)
Northern Flicker (yellow-shafted)
50
(high)
PILEATED WOODPECKER
1
-
Northern Shrike
2
-
Blue Jay
201
-
American Crow
117
(low)
Horned Lark
0
(low)
Black-capped Chickadee
569
-
Tufted Titmouse
7
(low)
Red-breasted Nuthatch
32
(high)
White-breasted Nuthatch
247
(RECORD HIGH)
Brown Creeper
24
-
Carolina Wren
26
(RECORD HIGH)
Winter Wren
3
-
Golden-crowned Kinglet
17
-
Eastern Bluebird
30
-
Hermit Thrush
4
-
American Robin
1721
-
GRAY CATBIRD
1
-
European Starling
7332
(RECORD HIGH)
Cedar Waxwing
283
(low)
Yellow-rumped Warbler
18
(low)
EASTERN TOWHEE
1
-
American Tree Sparrow
583
-
SAVANNAH SPARROW
1
-
Fox Sparrow
30
-
Song Sparrow
49
(low)
Swamp Sparrow
16
(low)
White-throated Sparrow
140
-
White-crowned Sparrow
2
(low)
Dark-eyed Junco
1400
-
LAPLAND LONGSPUR
1
-
SNOW BUNTING
36
-
Northern Cardinal
551
-
Red-winged Blackbird
16
(low)
Common Grackle
0
(low)
Brown-headed Cowbird
0
(low)
Purple Finch
0
(low)
House Finch
238
-
Pine Siskin
0
(low)
American Goldfinch
766
(RECORD HIGH)
House Sparrow
1221
-
-
-
-
Total Species
85
(RECORD HIGH)
Total Individuals
30350
-

 

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 16 December 2007: the 59th Lisle-Arboretum Christmas Bird Count.


Last modified on 18 January 2016
by Geoffrey A. Williamson