The 106th Christmas Bird Counts were held December 14, 2005 through January 5, 2006.
The Annual National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count is the longest running, and world's largest citizen science project. Over 2,000 counts across North, Central and South America take place during a specific three week period, mid-December through early January. Over 50,000 people participate and there is room enough for everyone. Last year almost 70 million birds were counted! The National Audubon Society website has full details on the entire project. Click to learn more about this global scientific effort.
The Christmas Bird Count is rich in history, having begun in 1900 with one being held right here in the New York City region. Click for more information on the count's history and objectives on National Audubon Society's website.
2005 Orient Christmas Bird Count Summary
By MaryLaura Lamont, Compiler
The sunrise morning of December 31 was quite spectacular as approximately 58 people slowly started counting every bird they saw in their respective assigned count areas. Breathtaking colors or red, pink and yellow on the fluffy cloud formations foretold us of bad weather eventually rolling in. That age-old adage “red sky at morning, sailor take warning,” always holds true. The annual National Audubon Society’s Orient Christmas Count has been counting birds since 1904. It is one of the oldest counts in the United States and was started by the great naturalist, Roy Latham of Orient. The required 15-mile diameter takes in the area from Peconic to Plum Island, all of Shelter Island, and many parts of the north side of the South Fork, such as Cedar Pt. County Park.
Even though we had a mixture of rain and snow in the afternoon, the day proved a great one. A total of 113 species of birds were found and literally thousands of birds counted (stay tuned for the final tally). We traversed the islands and forks by foot, car, boat and even horseback! Some of the highlights of this count were: Harlequin duck, Redhead, Gadwall, Pied-billed Grebe, Coot, Common Merganser, Iceland Gull, Razorbill, Clapper Rail, Bittern, Bobwhite Quail, Long-eared Owl, Rough-Legged Hawk, Horned Lark, Chipping Sparrow, Ipswich Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow and House Wren. to everyone’s surprise, an Ovenbird was even found. He sure missed the boat (or wing?) to the south lands and was singing his heart out in Orient!
All in all, it was an excellent day for observing birds. When National Audubon puts all this information into their data systems year after year they can determine where species are going, if they are declining or increasing, what habitats are being lost, etc. And for all of us birders, it’s just a great way to get outside in the winter, being with friends who share your hobby, spotting some beautiful birds, and helping science, too.
Southold North Summary
The Southold North group had a total of 11 participants, 9 in the main group and 2 others that had excellent sitings in the sector on their own. The main group consisted of Rick & Linda Kedenburg, Carol & Bob Gelling, Tom Rozakis, Richard Wines, Nancy Gilbert, Lillian Ball and John Sepenoski. MaryLaura Lamont chipped in with a sighting of snow geese and Mary Mulcahy had tree sparrows and a common grackle, all of which were not encountered by the main group.
The Southold North group identified 66 species during the 2005 count, up from 55 species for both 2003 & 2004 and 54 species for 2002. This represents a record for the Southold North sector since records have been kept. Highlights included a long-eared owl found in Peconic, 3 razorbills and a male harlequin duck at Horton's Point, 3 fox sparrows at Hummel's Pond, 1 immature great cormorant at Great Pond and 1 immature Northern gannet at Kenney's Beach. The following table contains the complete list.
| Species | Count | Species | Count |
|---|
| red-throated loon | 4 | great horned owl | 3 |
| common loon | 27 | long-eared owl | 1 |
| horned grebe | 27 | belted kingfisher | 4 |
| northern gannet | 1 | red-bellied woodpecker | 10 |
| great cormorant | 1 | yellow-bellied sapsucker | 1 |
| great blue heron | 2 | downy woodpecker | 19 |
| mute swan | 4 | hairy woodpecker | 2 |
| snow goose | 2 | northern flicker | 8 |
| Canada goose | 603 | blue jay | 37 |
| American black duck | 4 | American crow | 43 |
| Mallard | 31 | black-capped chickadee | 30 |
| canvasback | 25 | tufted titmouse | 31 |
| harlequin duck | 1 | white-breasted nuthatch | 23 |
| long-tailed duck | 49 | brown creeper | 1 |
| black scoter | 8 | carolina wren | 3 |
| surf scoter | 83 | winter wren | 3 |
| white-winged scoter | 280 | American robin | 1 |
| common goldeneye | 103 | gray catbird | 4 |
| bufflehead | 46 | northern mockingbird | 8 |
| red-breasted merganser | 47 | European starling | 237 |
| ruddy duck | 5 | yellow-rumped warbler | 1 |
| northern harrier | 1 | northern cardinal | 12 |
| cooper's hawk | 1 | American tree sparrow | 20 |
| red-tailed hawk | 2 | fox sparrow | 3 |
| American kestrel | 1 | song sparrow | 26 |
| ring-necked pheasant | 2 | white-throated sparrow | 71 |
| American coot | 4 | dark-eyed junco | 33 |
| ring-billed gull | 165 | red-winged blackbird | 1 |
| herring gull | 248 | common grackle | 1 |
| great black-backed gull | 61 | purple finch | 2 |
| razorbill | 3 | house finch | 148 |
| mourning dove | 54 | American goldfinch | 39 |
| eastern screech owl | 1 | house sparrow | 24 |