Spring NAMC at Green Cay

The results for Green Cay's spring North American Migration Count are below. It was a great day spent with some of my favorite birders. Thanks guys for joining me again!

Species	Count
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck	3
Mottled Duck	24
Pied-billed Grebe	2
Wood Stork	5
Double-crested Cormorant	7
Anhinga	19
Least Bittern	8
Great Blue Heron	4
Great Egret	6
Snowy Egret	1
Little Blue Heron	2
Tricolored Heron	14
Cattle Egret	1
Green Heron	7
Black-crowned Night-Heron	2
White Ibis	12
Glossy Ibis	7
Roseate Spoonbill	20
Black Vulture	3
Turkey Vulture	3
Red-shouldered Hawk	1
Purple Gallinule	2
Common Gallinule	48
American Coot	9
Limpkin	2
Killdeer	1
Least Tern	1
Rock Pigeon	2
Eurasian Collared-Dove	1
White-winged Dove	10
Mourning Dove	9
Chimney Swift	4
Red-bellied Woodpecker	4
Blue Jay	13
Fish Crow	5
Purple Martin	62
Northern Mockingbird	9
Brown Thrasher	2
European Starling	20
Northern Waterthrush	3
American Redstart	7
Northern Cardinal	24
Red-winged Blackbird	83
Common Grackle	34
Boat-tailed Grackle	62

Species Total: 45

Date and Effort: Sat May 12, 2012 7:00 AM

Protocol: Traveling

Party Size:4
Duration:3 hour(s), 15 minute(s)
Distance:3.0 mile(s)
Observers:Eva Matthews, Emily Chase-Jacobsen, Andy Lantz, Holly Krahe
Comments:NAMC

List generated by eBird.

North American Migration Count Coming Up!

Andy and I on last year's count.

If you're free this weekend then you should get outdoors and participate in the North American Migration Count.  The count starts Saturday and people across the continent will be counting birds for citizen science.  I have been doing this count at Green Cay since May 2007.  I'm hoping this year will be a big one and we hit 50 species for the day.  Anything is possible!

If you're at the wetlands on Saturday and see a good bird let us know, we may need it for the count!

North America Migration Count

The Green Cay count was loads of fun this year and we had 55 species for the day with 504 individuals. Thanks to Holly, Andy, Emily, and Linda we were able to find 9 warbler species, 2 vireos, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird, and a few FOS species like Green-winged Teal and Sora. We had a few big misses such as White-winged Dove, Cattle Egret, and Black Vulture. With more time we may have been able to pick up 5 or more species and break 60 but it was a great count and one of our best.

Here's the break-down for those that are interested:
[_4___]____Double-crested Cormorant
[_24__]____Anhinga
[_1___]____Great Blue Heron
[_7___]____Great Egret
[_1___]____Snowy Egret
[_4___]____Little Blue Heron
[_10__]____Tricolored Heron
[_5___]____Green Heron
[_3___]____Black-crowned Night-Heron
[_26__]____White Ibis
[_3___]____Glossy Ibis
[_1___]____Roseate Spoonbill
[_1___]____Wood Stork
[_7___]____Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
[_1___]____Green-winged Teal
[_21__]____Mottled Duck
[_21__]____Blue-winged Teal
[_1___]____Turkey Vulture
[_1___]____Osprey
[_1___]____Cooper's Hawk
[_3___]____Red-shouldered Hawk
[_1___]____Sora
[_1___]____Purple Gallinule
[_130_]____Common Moorhen
[_1___]____Limpkin
[_2___]____Killdeer
[_15__]____Rock Pigeon
[_4___]____Mourning Dove
[_4___]____Chimney Swift
[_1___]____Ruby-throated Hummingbird
[_1___]____Belted Kingfisher
[_5___]____Red-bellied Woodpecker
[_22__]____Blue Jay
[_43__]____Fish Crow
[_12__]____Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
[_6___]____Northern Mockingbird
[_1___]____Brown Thrasher
[_1___]____Loggerhead Shrike
[_12__]____European Starling
[_1___]____White-eyed Vireo
[_1___]____Red-eyed Vireo
[_2___]____Northern Parula
[_1___]____Cape May Warbler
[_2___]____Black-throated Blue Warbler
[_3___]____Yellow-throated Warbler
[_3___]____Prairie Warbler
[_2___]____American Redstart
[_2___]____Ovenbird
[_1___]____Northern Waterthrush
[_1___]____Common Yellowthroat
[_10__]____Northern Cardinal
[_39__]____Red-winged Blackbird
[_23__]____Boat-tailed Grackle
[_2___]____Common Grackle
*Egyptian Goose

Thanks again count crew, you guys made this one a lot of fun!

 Photo by Emily Lark, this was her first official NAMC and she was in charge of counting all the Anhingas.

NAMC May 2011

This year's North America Migration Count (NAMC) caught me by surprise and my team had to adjust last minute so we could even participate this year. Instead of hitting the trails in the morning hours we didn't start counting until 3PM. Despite the late start we still had a nice count with 43 species and a total of 464 individuals. Within the first half mile we had a very cooperative Least Bittern. The photo aboves shows you our perspective (basically straight down on it). Walking on an elevated boardwalk does have it priveleges.

It was a good day for waders with almost all the usual suspects seen like the Great Blue Heron seen above.

Emily joined the count this year in addition to my two normal partners, Andy and Holly. She was just along for the ride but she has some eagle eyes and not only relocated the Least Bittern but she also spotted the Purple Gallinule below.

I just love those long toes on the gallinules. Striking birds. As we made our count circle we found the breezy conditions to keep the count fairly cool. May has been a hot month and one of the issues of counting in the early afternoon is that birds tend to stay hidden but some overcast weather and a breeze proved to our fortune.

On the long stretch of the mile boardwalk we found a Roseate Spoonbill, Green Cay's FOS Chimney Swifts, and some fledgling Purple Martins that gave us a quite a stir.

We managed to count the parking lot and across the street at the Water Utilities pond but didn't pick up much except for a few yard birds. A heavy rain loomed and we ended the count but happy that we broke 40 considering the weather, the time of day, and the lack of migrants.

Thanks Andy and Holly for making this count so much fun!

Total species list:

Pied-billed Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Least Bittern, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Cattle Egret, Green Heron, White Ibis, Glossy Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Wood Stork, Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Mottled Duck, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Purple Gallinule, Common Moorhen, American Coot, Limpkin, Killdeer, Black-necked Stilt, Spotted Sandpiper, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, White-winged Dove, Mourning Dove, Chimney Swift, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Purple Martin, Blue Jay, Fish Crow, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Blackpoll Warbler, American Redstart, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Boat-tailed Grackle, and Common Grackle.

NAMC Green Cay

Green Cay is lush green in bloom right now. The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and most of our winter birds are heading north. This weekend was the North American Migration Count and we had a productive morning. At Green Cay and across the street at the Water Utilities pond we counted 50 species with 569 individuals present.

The feeders were full of Painted Buntings just a month ago but now they are being swamped with Black-bellied Whistling Ducks and White-winged Doves.

The NAMC was most dominated by the year around residents such as Anhingas, Mottled Ducks, Green Herons, and Common Moorhens. We had a record high of 32 Black-necked Stilts, most of them already sitting on eggs.

We saw quite a few alligators on our count as well. They seem to be prime and ready for the new crop of baby moorhens and mottled ducks that they will be consuming soon.

The best birds of the day were a late-for-the-year Sora, a lone Roseate Spoonbill, and a Northern Waterthrush. All in all, not many migrants at the wetlands but plenty of diversity on a hot, near-summer day.