Pheasant Branch Barred Owl
Happy Winter Solstice!
Though daylight time will slowly begin to increase, the dreary skies are still with us, as they have been for a couple of weeks. This week's forecast looks to be a continuation of the same gloomy weather conditions. We could use a little sunshine!
Yesterday was the Madison Christmas Bird Count (CBC). My count area (#21) contains a large portion of Pheasant Branch Conservancy and a small corner of northwest Lake Mendota. With some extra help along for the fun, my team tallied 45 bird species. Our best birds included Winter Wren, Snow Bunting, White-crowned Sparrow, Horned Lark, plus two Barred Owls. I know we could have picked up a couple of Great Horned Owls along the creek corridor, but it's just outside of my count area. We tried for a Gray Catbird that had been seen near the Conservancy Condos on Thursday and Friday, but we failed to find it on Saturday! At least it's included in the count week.
Madison CBC Circle
Here are the full results from Area 21:
Checklists included in this summary:
(1): Pheasant Branch Conservancy
Date: Dec 20, 2014, 7:00 AM
(2): Madison CBC--Area 21
Date: Dec 20, 2014, 8:34 AM
932 Canada Goose -- (1),(2)
2 Tundra Swan -- (2)
45 Mallard -- (1)
3 Green-winged Teal -- (1)
1 Bufflehead -- (2)
27 Common Goldeneye -- (2)
3 Common Merganser -- (2)
3 Ring-necked Pheasant -- (1)
1 Cooper's Hawk -- (2)
1 Bald Eagle -- (2)
6 Red-tailed Hawk -- (1),(2)
6 Ring-billed Gull -- (1),(2)
39 Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) -- (1),(2)
7 Mourning Dove -- (1),(2)
2 Barred Owl -- (1)
8 Red-bellied Woodpecker -- (1),(2)
11 Downy Woodpecker -- (1),(2)
5 Hairy Woodpecker -- (1),(2)
4 Northern Flicker -- (1)
1 American Kestrel -- (1)
6 Blue Jay -- (1),(2)
23 American Crow -- (1),(2)
18 Horned Lark -- (2)
24 Black-capped Chickadee -- (1),(2)
7 Tufted Titmouse -- (1)
9 White-breasted Nuthatch -- (1),(2)
1 Brown Creeper -- (1)
1 Winter Wren -- (1)
19 American Robin -- (1)
540 European Starling -- (1),(2)
90 Cedar Waxwing -- (1)
6 Snow Bunting -- (1),(2)
28 American Tree Sparrow -- (1),(2)
1 Fox Sparrow -- (1)
3 Song Sparrow -- (1),(2)
1 Swamp Sparrow -- (1)
5 White-throated Sparrow -- (1)
3 White-crowned Sparrow -- (1)
153 Dark-eyed Junco -- (1),(2)
26 Northern Cardinal -- (1),(2)
1 Red-winged Blackbird -- (1)
39 House Finch -- (1),(2)
14 Pine Siskin -- (1)
65 American Goldfinch -- (1),(2)
152 House Sparrow – (1),(2)
According to Aaron Stutz, CBC coordinator for Madison, the count circle tallied 90 bird species, but not all areas have turned in their reports. It still amazes me how many different kinds of birds can be found in Wisconsin during December.
All images © 2014 Mike McDowell