VA BIRDers,
Here is a brief note about the results of Fairfax County's Spring Count this
year, May 3 and 4. Saturday was the most heavily covered with 159 species
reported out of 11,700 birds. Sunday reported 121 species out of over 1500
birds. The weekend totals were 166 species out of 13,300 birds. A fine
effort was made by over 70 participants who counted for over 90 hours. Let
me be the first to applaud the dedicated efforts of these
conservation-minded birders!
I believe a more complete report will be in the Northern Virginia Bird Club
Newsletter - The Siskin - and possibly the club's website in the near
future. For now a few interesting tidbits:
The top 20 species reported were:
1
Northern Cardinal
620
2
Ring-billed Gull
608
3
Common Grackle
573
4
American Robin
565
5
American Goldfinch
550
6
Red-winged Blackbird
523
7
Canada Goose
466
8
European Starling
438
9
Red-eyed Vireo
413
10
Blue Jay
393
11
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
380
12
Tufted Titmouse
343
13
Yellow-rumped Warbler
335
14
Great Blue Heron
326
15
Carolina Chickadee
295
16
Double-crested Cormorant
273
17
Carolina Wren
248
18
Mourning Dove
231
19
Northern Parula
220
20
Brown-headed Cowbird
213
Also of interest are the unusual species. One could define these as species
with only one tally. These were:
143
American Black Duck
1
144
Canvasback
1
145
Bufflehead
1
146
Common Goldeneye
1
147
Pied-billed Grebe
1
148
Black-crowned Night-Heron
1
149
Mississippi Kite
1
150
Northern Harrier
1
151
Sharp-shinned Hawk
1
152
Broad-winged Hawk
1
153
American Kestrel
1
154
Peregrine Falcon
1
155
King Rail
1
156
Sora
1
157
Common Moorhen
1
158
Pectoral Sandpiper
1
159
Semipalmated Sandpiper
1
160
Wilson's Snipe
1
161
Great Black-backed Gull
1
162
Red-breasted Nuthatch
1
163
Marsh Wren
1
164
Blackburnian Warbler
1
165
Palm Warbler
1
166
Bay-breasted Warbler
1
167
White-crowned Sparrow
1
There were several species found on the count not found on the 2006 tally -
such as Lesser Scaup, Gadwall, Horned Grebe, Pine Siskin, Virginia Rail,
American Wigeon, Blue-winged Teal, Canvasback, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye,
Black-crowned Night-Heron, Mississippi Kite, Peregrine Falcon, King Rail,
Sora, Common Moorhen, and Pectoral Sandpiper. Admittedly some of these
species are probably more common in Fairfax County than the numbers tell -
but then again, many of these species are infrequently or seldom reported in
May by anyone up in the north of good ol' Virginny!
All in all, an outstanding effort covering a wide variety of habitats.
Again, my hat is off to all of the counters.
Kurt Gaskill
