Sandy Tkach and I did the monthly census 1/20/2009.  Temps from 7-20
F, winds SW 5-15 mph, overcast in AM to clear in PM.  There is over a
foot of snow on the ground.  Roads were clean but icy as Sandy found
the ditch and stopped the census for about an hour.  I was snowshoeing
the North Pond Trail at the time.  But we finished.  A total of 37
species were observed which is below the 12 year average of 40
species.  Only 1466 individuals were observed which is also well below
the average of 5685 individuals.  Most of the island is frozen in.
Some ice opened up on the east side in early afternoon which added the
waterfowl and gull numbers.  Two new species were added to the January
census list; Snowy Owl and Pine Siskin.  We have now observed 80
species on January census routes over the 12 years.

31     Common Goldeneye
15     Common Merganser
2       Bald Eagle
1       Sharp-shinned Hawk
3       Cooper's Hawk
1       Red-tailed Hwk
1       Rough-legged Hawk
27     Ring-billed Gull
267   Herring Gull
4       Great Black-backed Gull
350   Gull species?
*        Mourning Dove
2       Eastern Screech-Owl
1       Snowy Owl ( out on ice SE side of island)
2       Red-bellied Woodpecker
32     Downy Woodpecker
3       Northern Flicker
5       Blue Jay
11     American Crow
2       Horned Lark
78     Black-capped Chickadee
1       White-breasted Nuthatch
4       Brown Creeper
3       Carolina Wren
8       Golden-crowned Kinglet
19     Hermit Thrush
275  American Robin
64    European Starling
17     Yellow-rumped Warbler
11     American Tree Sparrow
4       Song Sparrow
67     White-throated Sparrow
23     Dark-eyed Junco
31     Northern Cardinal
19     Purple Finch
2        House Finch
6       Pine Siskin
11     American Goldfinch
63     House Sparrow

37  species
1466 individuals


In the 12 years since this census started, it has been run 11 times.
In 2000 I could not get to the island in January or February.  Since
that time only 11 species have been observed on every census.  Those
are Common Goldeneye, Common Merganser, Ring-billed Gull, Herring
Gull, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, American Crow, Black-capped
Chickadee, American Robin, Dark-eyed Junco, and Northern Cardinal.
Nine additional species have been observed on 10 out of the 11 census
run.
--
H. Thomas Bartlett
Tiffin, Ohio
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