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Lakewood Christmas Bird Count Report 2011

Submitted by Nancy Howell, Compiler for the Lakewood Circle, Western

Cuyahoga Audubon Society
Date: Friday, December 30, 2011
Results: 67 Species; 62 Participants
Location: Rocky River Nature Center, Rocky River Reservation, Cleveland Metroparks, 24000 Valley Pkwy,
North Olmsted, OH 44070
Archive:
http://www.wcasohio.org/christmas_bird_count_2011.htm

Summary
The Lakewood (west side) Christmas Bird Count took place on Friday, December 30, 2011. A Friday may
have been an odd day for some but with the way the holidays fell the Friday seemed to be one of the better
days to do the Count. Sixty-seven (67) species were tallied that day and two were seen during the count
week (italicized and bold below). This is about the average number of species so it was not the best of the
Lakewood Christmas Counts or the worst. The effort by the 62 terrific participants, who spent 74.75 hours
out in the field and 21.5 hours watching feeders, was rewarded. Another 1.5 hours were spent owling either
in the early morning or late in the day and produced zero, zippo, nada!!!
The weather was an oddity as well with the day was just too uh, nice. When one thinks of a Christmas
Count one might think cold temperatures and at least a little snow, not this year. Temperatures were in the
high 30s to mid 40s, mostly cloudy, the sun peeped out periodically and then there were periodic drizzles
to light showers. All water; Lake Erie, ponds, rivers and streams were wide open. The birds knew that too
so were not concentrated at feeders, or in openings of frozen water or really anywhere. Was this summer
and falls exceedingly wet weather a factor in the lack of some species? Fruits on trees and shrubs seemed
low this year, might that be why the numbers of some species of fruit feeders to be on the low side? Where
were our local owls, turkey and some of the songbirds we regularly get? So many questions yet participants
did locate a couple of great sightings.
Here is a rundown of the good the bad and the ugly of this years count. Some of more
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noteworthy species are in

bold and count week (cw) are in
bold italics
. Below is the list of species and
numbers.

Bird List
#

Species

Lakewood CBC Count

1.

Canada Goose

1020

2.

Wood Duck

3.

American Black Duck

12

4.

Mallard

690

5.

American Wigeon

6.

Redhead

7.

Greater Scaup

8.

Bufflehead

35

9.

Common Goldeneye

547

10.

Red-breasted Merganser

3701

11.

Hooded Merganser

12.

Common Loon

13.

Horned Grebe

14.

Pied-billed Grebe (cw)

15.

Double-crested Cormorant

17

16.

Great Blue Heron

17.

Bald Eagle

18.

Coopers Hawk

12

19.

Red-shouldered Hawk

20.

Red-tailed Hawk

21

21.

Rough-legged Hawk

22.

American Kestrel

23.

Merlin

24.

Peregrine Falcon

25.

American Coot

26.

Bonapartes Gull

218

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Web:
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27.

Ring-billed Gull

3798

28.

Herring Gull

108

29.

Great black-backed Gull

30.

Rock Pigeon

702

31.

Mourning Dove

189

32.

Snowy Owl

33.

Eastern Screech Owl

34.

Belted Kingfisher

11

35.

Red-headed Woodpecker

36.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

65

37.

Downy Woodpecker

100

38.

Hairy Woodpecker

25

39.

Northern Flicker

40.

Pileated Woodpecker

41.

Blue Jay

179

42.

American Crow

45

43.

Black-capped Chickadee

280

44.

Tufted Titmouse

91

45.

Red-breasted Nuthatch

12

46.

White-breasted Nuthatch

129

47.

Carolina Wren

48.

Winter Wren

49.

Golden-crowned Kinglet

50.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

51.

Eastern Bluebird

52.

American Robin

275

53.

Northern Mockingbird

54.

European Starling

2242

55.

Cedar Waxwing

56.

American Tree Sparrow

95

57.

Field Sparrow

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58.

Song Sparrow

24

59.

Swamp Sparrow

60.

White-throated Sparrow

61.

White-crowned Sparrow

62.

Dark-eyed Junco

147

63.

Northern Cardinal

153

64.

Red-winged Blackbird

24

65.

Purple Finch (cw)

66.

House Finch

190

67.

Pine Siskin

68.

American Goldfinch

204

69.

House Sparrow

757

Total Species

67

How the groups doing the Lake Erie shoreline do the magic they do is always a mystery. Lake Erie was
wide open and as a result waterfowl and gulls were not concentrated at all. A few species of dabblers Wood
Duck, Mallard, American Black Duck and American Wigeon were found primarily at inland sites. Big water
ducks and divers were nearly non existent ONE Redhead, ONE Hooded Merganser, FOUR Greater
Scaup and even the Red-breasted Merganser numbers were some of the lowest noted, usually their
numbers are in the double digit thousands. No special divers or other unusual waterfowl.
Common Loon and Horned Grebe were nice finds (thank goodness) on Lake Erie. Double-crested
Cormorant is a species not always found, but they were here this CBC. Gull numbers were p-a-t-h-e-t-i-c
with only a couple thousand Ring-billed Gulls, way, way lower than the double-digit thousands of past
Christmas Counts. ONE Great Black-backed Gull? That is absurd. No unusual species of gull were noted.
Diurnal raptors did better on our list with all 3 falcons species one expects to find in the area at this time of
year. Cleveland Hopkins airport was a mini bonanza of raptors with many Red-tailed Hawks, several
American Kestrels a single Rough-legged Hawk (nice) AND a single Snowy Owl (whoo-hoo). Other owls
were in short supply with Screech Owl being the only other owl. Where were you Great Horned and
Barred Owls?? Despite some owling time none of the larger owls were found.
Woodpeckers made appearances throughout the area and a single Red-headed Woodpecker is nice. With
the milder weather one would think that Northern Flicker would be easier to find but numbers were low.
Most of the remainder of the perching and or songbird numbers were lower than most years. Even feeder
birds were not as abundant possibly not stressed due to the milder weather. Red-breasted Nuthatch were
tallied and it was not a huge year for them so that was a nice find as were the single Winter Wren, a couple
of Golden-crowned Kinglets and two Ruby-crowned Kinglets!

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Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society, 4310 Bush Ave., Cleveland, OH 44109
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Web:
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A lack of persistent fruits on trees and shrubs seemed to decrease the number of fruit eaters that are
normally found, such as Eastern Bluebird, American Robin and Cedar Waxwing. Not a single warbler of
any species was noted. One of the few species whose numbers were up were European Starlings (ugh).
Sparrows didnt do too badly but we did miss any Eastern Towhee that might have been around. A single
Field Sparrow was a good addition as were the two Swamp Sparrows which we sometimes do not get, and
the five White-crowned Sparrows. Some of the wetlands in our count circle have been opened up with
trails making it a bit easier to find blackbirds. Red-winged Blackbirds did not disappoint us but we did miss
Common Grackle and Brown-headed Cowbird. Again with the relatively mild winter thus far one would
have thought more blackbird sightings would have been reported but this was not the case. Lastly, two
Pine Siskins were a nice addition to the list and a couple of Purple Finch were noted during count week.

Volunteers
A WELL DESERVED thank you to all who participated in the 2011 Christmas Bird Count. Whether you
went a field or stayed in the comfort of your home and watched your feeders. All tallies are appreciated
and have been added. Here are the 62 participants:
Jay Abercrombie, Nidia Arguedas, Linda Arida, Ken and Lois Ballas, Mary Bartos, Dennis and Kit Birch,
Sarah Boumphrey, Kathleen Bradley, Nancy Brewer, Erik Bruder, Diane Busch, June Cangey, Lee Cavano,
Liz Clingman, Bill Deininger, Dave Dvorak, Maria and Rick Finchum, Bob Finkelstein, Jerry Friedman,
Sandy Gleason, Joanne and Terry Gorges, Sharon Hanse, Jim Heflich, Terry Hogan, Nancy Howell, Mary
Lou Hura, Karen and Rich Kassouf, Claire Kluskens, Claire Kovacs, JoAnn Kubicki, Ray Kutnar, Paula
Lozano, Mary Jo Marshall, Terri Martincic, Liz McQuaid, Aaron Milenski, Marianne Nolan, Penny
OConnor, Michael Pacek, Lukas Padegimas, Earl and Martha Peck, Chris Pierce, Robert Reynard, Mary
Anne and Tom Romito, Suzanne Sawyer, Andrea and Robert Segedi, Paul Sherwood, Chuck Slusarczyk,
Jr., Jessie St. Christopher, Page Stephens, Helen Taft, Kathleen Tiburzi, Courtney Treadwell and Bev
Walborn.

Photos

Photo:Christmasbirdcounters,Ray&DavePennyO'Connor.

2016 Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society.

Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works.
Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society, 4310 Bush Ave., Cleveland, OH 44109
Email:
info@wcaudubon.org
Web:
http://www.wcaudubon.org

Photo:GoldfinchesatLakeAbramsChuckSlusarczykJr.

Photo:WhitebreastedNuthatchatLakeAbramsChuckSlusarczykJr.

2016 Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society.

Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works.
Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society, 4310 Bush Ave., Cleveland, OH 44109
Email:
info@wcaudubon.org
Web:
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Photo:GraySquirrel(blackvariation)atLakeAbramsChuckSlusarczykJr.

Photo:SnowyOwlatHopkinsChuckSlusarczykJr.

2016 Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society.

Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works.
Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society, 4310 Bush Ave., Cleveland, OH 44109
Email:
info@wcaudubon.org
Web:
http://www.wcaudubon.org

Photo:CBCcountersatZooMaryAnneRomito.

Photo:Themildweatherbroughtoutbirdsweusuallydon'tseeontheCBCcount.
ThisOstrichwasnotcountablebutfuntosee.MaryAnneRomito.

2016 Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society.

Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works.
Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society, 4310 Bush Ave., Cleveland, OH 44109
Email:
info@wcaudubon.org
Web:
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Photo:TheTigerwasposingtoo.MaryAnneRomito.

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2016 Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society.

Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works.
Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society, 4310 Bush Ave., Cleveland, OH 44109
Email:
info@wcaudubon.org
Web:
http://www.wcaudubon.org