We conducted the January monthly survey yesterday.  It was the 15th year of
this survey beginning in 1998.  Couldn't get to the island in January of
2000.  This was the largest number of participants to date.  The Townsend's
Solitaire was the draw and it didn't disappoint us.  Weather started out
partly cloudy and a cool 3 degrees but rocketed up to 13 degrees by the end
of the survey.  Participants were Sandy Tkach, Dan Gesualdo, Dand Sanders,
Dorrene Linzell, and myself.  Monday when I arrived on the island, the
waters were completely open around the island.  When I got up Tuesday
morning to go pickup people at the airport, I found the most of the lake on
the south side of the island was completely frozen.  The thousands of gulls
and ducks that were there Monday afternoon were gone but we managed to find
many later in waters that opened up on the east side of the island.  We
ended up with 51 species of birds which is an all time high for the January
census which has averaged 42 species.  Northern Pintail, Ruddy Duck,
American Coot, Townsend's Solitaire, and White-winged Crossbill were new
for the January survey.  Over the 15 years of this survey, 90 species have
been observed.  Surprisingly, we missed Carolina Wren for only the second
time.  The low numbers of American Robin and House Finch were also
unusual.  The 8415 total individuals was slightly above the 15 year average
of 6338

For those who may try for the solitaire, it was present almost all day on
Monday at the fruit tree in front of Condo #9.  But on Tuesday, we only saw
it in the early morning.  It was not observed after 9:00 AM.  Not sure what
its schedule is, but it does take patience.  The fruit trees are fast
losing there fruit so not sure what the bird will do when they are all
cleaned off.

78     Canada Goose
12     Tundra Swan
451   Gadwall
178   American Black Duck
542   Mallard
2       Northern Pintail
1       Canvasback
196   Redhead
9       Ring-necked Duck
132   Greater Scaup
385   Bufflehead
1837 Common Goldeneye
1095 Common Merganser
609   Red-breasted Merganser
3       Ruddy Duck
1750 Diving duck species?
*        Wild Turkey
5       Double-crested Cormorant
11     Bald Eagle
1       Cooper's Hawk
1       Red-tailed Hawk
18     American Coot
28     Ring-billed Gull
233   Herring Gull
1       Lesser Black-backed Gull
23     Great Black-backed Gull
450   Gull species?
2       Mourning Dove
1       Eastern Screech-Owl
3       Red-bellied Woodpecker
18     Downy Woodpecker
4       Northern Flicker
2       Blue Jay
12     American Crow
37     Black-capped Chickadee
1       Red-breasted Nuthatch
3       White-breasted Nuthatch
8       Brown Creeper
1       Winter Wren
3       Golden-crowned Kinglet
11     Eastern Bluebird
1       Townsend's Solitaire
7       Hermit Thrush
3       American Robin
14     European Starling
32     Yellow-rumped Warbler
2      American Tree Sparrow
56    White-throated Sparrow
29    Dark-eyed Junco
90    Northern Cardinal
1      House Finch
2      White-winged Crossbill
2      American Goldfinch
20    House Sparrow

Total Species = 51 (January average = 42 species)
Total Individuals = 8415 (January average = 6338 individuals)
* = Observed on the island but not on survey route

Tom

--
H. Thomas Bartlett
Tiffin, Ohio
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