I have no idea if this table will format O.K. on VA-BIRD. Here goes:
CAPE CHARLES CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT, 1965-2011, SELECTED SPECIES SHOWING DRAMATIC
DECLINES OR INCREASES, broken down by "decadal" average.
Species 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s
Bald Eagle 0 0 3 5 26
38
Black Vulture 1 6 21 69 128
108
Northern Bobwhite 103 150 138 44 19 6
Yellow-breasted Chat 3 2 1 0 0 0
Snow Goose (white) 63 174 565 1703 3688 7598
Pileated Woodpecker 0 1 3 6 7 16
Vesper Sparrow 20 33 18 16 3 1
Short-eared Owl 5 8 4 1 1
2
Barn Owl 3 2 1 1 0
1
B.-c. Night Heron 30 62 22 9 7 1
American Bittern 4 8 5 3 1
0
Horned Grebe 120 209 130 75 107 82
Northern Flicker 145 262 229 153 105 156
Sedge Wren 7 21 18 12 7 2
Brown-h. Nuthatch 35 67 9 7 6 10
Eastern Bluebird 15 18 33 166 223 272
Peregrine Falcon 0 2 5 4 5
9
Brown Pelican 0 0 3 4 46
91
White Ibis 0 0 0 20 34
7
This is based on absolute numbers, rounded off, as opposed to the # of
individual birds per 100 party hours, the latter much more relevant
statistically, and easily found on the Audubon website, www.audubon.org Many
more species could be included in this simple table that have exhibited
dramatic changes in numbers, such as American Oystercatcher, Greater
Yellowlegs, most of the herons smaller than Great Egret, Common Goldeneye, etc.
Some of the more notable “increases” in this table from the 1960s to the 1970s
are no doubt due to the increase in the # of observers. Since the 1960s and
2010s represent only a few years, they are not as cogent to understanding
what’s going on as the 4 other columns that represent complete 10-year
stretches. Some of the trends hinted at above are probably also reflected, at
least in part, by the results of the other 3 Eastern Shore of Virginia CBCs.
Because of my confusion with the Audubon database these “decades” are actually,
in respective order: 1960s are 1965-1968, 1970s are 1969-1978, 1980s are
1979-1988, 1990s are 1989-1998, 2000s are 1999-2008, and 2010s are 2009-2011.
The confusion is due to my initially not recognizing Audubon’s designation of a
CBC year as the later year, that is, Audubon's 1966 CBC numbers are for the
Dec. 1965-Jan. 1966 CBC period. All of the Cape Charles CBCs have been in
December.
Best to all. – Harry Armistead, Philadelphia.
