1

Lakewood Christmas Bird Count Report 2014

Submitted by Nancy Howell, Compiler for the Lakewood Circle,
Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society

Date: Sunday, December 28, 2014

Results: 78 Species: 86 Participants
Time out in the field 06:45 to 16:30
Location: Rocky River Nature Center, Rocky River Reservation, Cleveland Metroparks, 24000 Valley
Pkwy, North Olmsted, OH 44070
Archive:
http://www.wcasohio.org/christmas_bird_count2014.html

Summary Overview
The 2014 Christmas Bird Count for the Lakewood Circle was covered well by individuals or groups of
birders from very experienced to beginners. Temperatures ranged in the mid to upper 30s with
overcast skies, but no precipitation, little wind and, for the end of December, relatively mild weather.
Inland water; lakes, streams and rivers were open as was Lake Erie, nothing to concentrate water birds.
Some of the birding groups mentioned having difficulty finding some species since birds were really
spread out. Fewer fruits, seeds and berries on most trees and shrubs may have had an impact as well.
Nonetheless, it was great to have all of our participants and great coverage. Lets do it again in 2015
oh yeah, we will!
As the lists of species came in it was like opening gifts again and again. Yet questions arose as to why
some species were missing or had very low in numbers, we hope this is not a trend. 2014 proved to be
a year that was pretty normal with no species really dominating like winter finches or large numbers of
particular raptors. The list below of
78 species on count day and
2 count week is terrific. Yes, some
surprises were found. As of January 12, 2015, with all lists accounted for, the following are the results
of the 2014 Lakewood Circle (OH) Christmas Bird Count. Following the species list is commentary on
what was noted and lastly, the list of participants.
Note: Rare, unusual or unexpected species are
bold,
while count week (
CW
) species are in
italics
.

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

Birds

Species

Lakewood CBC Count

1.

Canada Goose

938

2.

Mallard

1193

3.

American Black Duck

16

4.

Wood Duck

5.

Northern Pintail

76

6.

Redhead

50

7.

Canvasback

53

8.

Greater Scaup

131

9.

Lesser Scaup

15

10.

Black Scoter

11.

Surf Scoter

12

12.

Bufflehead

41

13.

Common Goldeneye

867

14.

Red-breasted Merganser

377

15.

Hooded Merganser

16.

Common Merganser

16

17.

Ruddy Duck

14

18.

Wild Turkey

10

19.

Horned Grebe

15

20.

Pied-billed Grebe

21.

Double-crested Cormorant

22.

Great Blue Heron

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Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society, 4310 Bush Ave., Cleveland, OH 44109
Email:
info@wcaudubon.org
Web:
http://www.wcaudubon.org

23.

Bald Eagle

24.

Coopers Hawk

17

25.

Red-tailed Hawk

32

26.

Red-shouldered Hawk

27.

American Kestrel

28.

Peregrine Falcon

29.

American Coot

30.

Sandhill Crane

31.

Virginia Rail

32.

Ring-billed Gull

9056

33.

Herring Gull

370

34.

Great Black-backed Gull

30

35.

Lesser Black-backed Gull

36.

Bonapartes Gull

2220

37.

Little Gull

38.

Pomarine Jaeger

39.

Rock Pigeon

351

40.

Mourning Dove

238

41.

Barred Owl

42.

Snowy Owl

43.

Belted Kingfisher

44.

Red-headed Woodpecker

45.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

68

46.

Downy Woodpecker

159

47.

Hairy Woodpecker

26

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

48.

Northern Flicker

49.

Pileated Woodpecker

50.

American Crow

65

51.

Blue Jay

382

52.

Black-capped Chickadee

220

53.

Tufted Titmouse

107

54.

White-breasted Nuthatch

128

55.

Brown Creeper

56.

Carolina Wren

17

57.

Winter Wren

58.

Golden-crowned Kinglet

59.

Eastern Bluebird

60.

Hermit Thrush

61.

American Robin

159

62.

Northern Mockingbird

63.

European Starling

705

64.

Cedar Waxwing

CW

65.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

66.

American Tree Swallow

170

67.

Chipping Sparrow

CW

68.

Fox Sparrow

69.

Song Sparrow

38

70.

Swamp Sparrow

71.

White-throated Sparrow

12

72.

Dark-eyed Junco

235

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

73.

Lapland Longspur

60

74.

Northern Cardinal

196

75.

Red-winged Blackbird

76.

Common Grackle

77.

House Finch

121

78.

Common Redpoll

79.

American Goldfinch

203

80.

House Sparrow

1226

Nothing to concentrate the birds seems to be the mantra for the 2014 Lakewood Circle (OH)
Christmas Bird Count. Lake Erie and all inland lakes, ponds and rivers were free of ice so birds were
scattered. Rain before the count date helped to swell rivers and streams and caused them to be a bit
more turbid. Waterfowl-wise, not much jumps out other than many numbers were lower than in past
years. Of the dabbling ducks the one exception to low numbers was the Northern Pintail with 76 birds
counted. Diving and big water ducks, were down in numbers except Common Goldeneye. Two of the
three scoter species were tallied Black and Surf - while three mergansers species were in pathetically
low tallies; 377 Red-breasted Mergansers, 16 Common Mergansers and 3 Hooded Mergs. Are the
lower numbers due to the lake being open, hence the birds spread out we hope so. Are the birds
farther out in the lake perhaps. Have the birds just not arrived from open water up north? No
Common Loon were noted, but Horned and Pied-billed Grebe as well as a flock of Double-crested
Cormorants rounded out the list of water birds on Lake Erie.
Wild Turkey graced a couple of tallies this year. Thats nice since sometimes they are missed.
What happened to Great Blue Herons? One (1) bird was counted this year.
Raptors made a nice showing. Nothing too unusual, but this year the Merlin was missed, so American
Kestrel and Peregrine Falcon were the two falcons that graced our totals.
Ring-billed and Herring Gull numbers were extremely low, again due to the open waters of Lake Erie.
Bonapartes Gulls, however, showed in large number. A single Lesser Black-backed Gulls and Little
Gull were picked out of the gull flocks and made nice additions to the list. One additional species that
was picked up along Lake Erie was a Pomarine Jaeger. Nice!
Here are a couple of nice finds and surprises; two Sandhill Cranes were observed flying along the
Lake Erie shoreline in Lakewood. The Sandhill Crane may be a species that we will see more often on
our counts as their population rises in Ohio and surrounding states. Recall when Bald Eagle and
Peregrine Falcon numbers began to rise and become more regularly sighted. A Virginia Rail was noted
at the Lake Abrams wetland, a first for the Lakewood Count day. Two good finds for the count circle.

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

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Owl species and diversity were both lower this year. Only Barred Owl were tallied (sorry no Great
Horned or Eastern Screech). With last years bonanza of Snowy Owls this year still produced a Snowy
Owl at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, but only a single bird.
As we get into the species of birds that grace our birdfeeders, backyards, wooded areas and parks,
numbers of many species were down. Woodpeckers were well represented. American Crow numbers
dipped a bit, but again, were the birds just spread so widely that they were not counted. A single Brown
Creeper, two Winter Wren and a couple of Golden-crowned Kinglets made the list. A single Eastern
Bluebird and Hermit Thrush were good finds, but where were the American Robins? Their numbers
were low this year maybe because of the lack of fruits on shrubs and ornamental trees. Even the
European Starling numbers were lower than in past years. Cedar Waxwing were noted for count week,
but not on count day. Yay, a single Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) was found.
Sparrow species were typical of what is generally found in the count circle. American Tree Sparrow and
Dark-eyed Juncos numbers were fairly high, Song and White-throated Sparrows were in good number,
Swamp Sparrows should be more common, but the numbers are consistently low. A single Fox
Sparrow was a good find for count day and a winter plumaged Chipping Sparrow was added during
count week. The 60 Lapland Longspurs were a nice addition on count day.
Red - winged Blackbirds and Common Grackle seem to be coming fairly regular in the count circle in
the winter. While the numbers are not high, locating these species was good. American Goldfinch were
fairly abundant and a feeder held two Common Redpoll. Lastly, the species that had a large number
this year was the House Sparrow.

Volunteers

Thanks go out to all of the following who birded by car, on foot, watched feeders, did some owling,
etc. Apologies to those who I may have missed despite looking over the lists again and again.
Jay Abercrombie, Carolyn and Joe Ahern, Jan Auburn, Ken and Lois Ballas, Mary Bartos, Kit and
Dennis Birch, Kathleen Bradley, Nancy Brewer, Sandy Brown, Ellen Brown-Armstrong, Scott Brozell,
Erik Bruder, Jen Brumfield, Lee, Sue and Mary Cavano, Jill and David Collins, Frank Comodeca, Bill
Deininger, David Dvorak, Mark Eberling, Maria and Charles Finchum, Bob Finkelstein, Sue Finley,
Joanne and Terry Gorges, Kurt Grenig, Jim Hamilton, Sharon Hanse, Jim Heflich, Heather Hodges,
Nancy and Don Howell, Mary Lou Hura, Anna Julnes, Lothar and Inge Jung, Rich and Karen Kassouf,
Patty Kellner, Jeff and Marian Kraus, Jeff and Irene Krise, JoAnn Kubicki, Ray Kutnar, Kay Lauener,
Fred Losi, Paula Lozano, Michelle Manzo, Terri Martincic, Sue Mariani, Bret and Jim McCarty, Liz
McQuaid, Aaron Milenski, Tamyra Mouginis, Penny OConnor, Lukas Padegimas, Michael Pasek,
Chris Pierce, Jan Ranahan, Marty Reynard, Craig Rieker, Tom and Mary Anne Romito, Larry Rosche,
Jeremiah Roth, Gaye Rule, Robert and Andrea Segedi, Linda Sekura, Judy Semroc, Thomas Sendry,
Mark Shaver, Chuck Slusarczyk, Jr., Page Stephens, Helen Taft, Judy Wert, Janet Wertz and Lois
Westercamp.

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

Photo:CountersforLakewoodCBCnearRenaissanceRetirementCommunityProperty/SunsetMemorialCemetery
PennyO'Connor.

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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