The Captree Christmas Bird Count took place Sunday, December 17, 2023. The Captree CBC circle extends from Amityville in the west to Sayville in the east, and from Robert Moses State Park in the south to Commack in the north. Weather on the count day was relatively mild, with winds 10-15 kts from the ESE and temps ranging from 48-54 F. Forecasted rain held off until the late afternoon and did not interfere with the count.
A total of *133 species* were recorded, which represents the fourth-highest species total since the Captree CBC was started in 1962 (144 species in 1971 remains the all-time high). One new species, Black-throated Blue Warbler, was added to the all-time species list. Noteworthy sightings include: - 8 Cackling Geese (Connetquot, East) - Eurasian Wigeon (Connetquot) - Clapper Rail (East) - Semipalmated Plover (Jones) - Black-legged Kittiwake (Fire) - Iceland Gull (Jones) - American Bittern (Heckscher) - Snowy Egret (Gardiner) - Turkey Vulture (Gardiner) - Seaside Sparrow (East) - Black-throated Blue Warbler (Gardiner) An incredible 14 high counts were set, mostly attributable to the mild weather preceding the count and long-term population trends for certain species: - 216 Mute Swans - 20 Greater Yellowlegs - 159 Double-crested Cormorants - 8 Bald Eagles - 11 Peregrine Falcons - 61 Monk Parakeets - 73 Tree Swallows - 20 Ruby-crowned Kinglets - 2134 American Robins - 31 Gray Catbirds - 177 Northern Mockingbirds - 210 Boat-tailed Grackles - 5 Orange-crowned Warblers - 6 Pine Warblers Thank you to the Seatuck Environmental Association for graciously hosting the compilation at the Suffolk County Environmental Center, to the Great South Bay Audubon Society for sponsoring the compilation dinner, and to all participants for volunteering for the CBC. Next year's count will take place on Sunday, December 15, 2024. Best, Brent Bomkamp Taylor Sturm Co-Compilers -- (copy & paste any URL below, then modify any text "_DOT_" to a period ".") NYSbirds-L List Info: NortheastBirding_DOT_com/NYSbirdsWELCOME_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/NYSbirdsRULES_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave_DOT_htm ARCHIVES: 1) mail-archive_DOT_com/nysbirds-l@cornell_DOT_edu/maillist_DOT_html 2) surfbirds_DOT_com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) birding_DOT_aba_DOT_org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: ebird_DOT_org/content/ebird/ --
