| Bird Counts |
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2010Christmas Bird Count (2010)Donald M. Ware, Bird Count Coordinator On 20 December 30 participants in the Choctawhatchee Bay, FL CBC found 18,181 birds of 145 species, plus 7 Count Week species, results similar to last year. A new species to the count this year was an Allen's Hummingbird at Stacy Meader's home in Niceville. This was also a new county record, and Fred Bassett banded it. Other hummingbirds here on count day that I was notified of were: 1 Buff-bellied, 2 Ruby-throated, 2 Black-chinned, and 3 Rufous. A Broad-tailed Hummingbird was banded at Tom and Sharon Maxwell's home in Choctaw Beach, but that was a bit outside of our CBC circle. Other rare finds were: 1 Franklin's Gull at the Destin west jetty and 2 Caspian Terns at Beach Park 7 in Ft. Walton beach. Bruce Purdy found an Ovenbird when scouting on the December 17th for a Count Week species, our second CBC record. Other Count Week birds were; an Eared Grebe in Garnier Bayou, a Peregrine Falcon at the Destin Bridge, Lesser Yellowlegs at the Okaloosa SF holding pond, a Long-billed Dowitcher at the landfill pond, a Brown Creeper at Rocky Bayou SP, and a male Summer Tanager at Nan Estes's feeder. We had record high counts of 135 Pied-billed Grebes and 5 Northern Harriers. I assigned leaders for our 14 designated areas: Lenny Fenimore, Base; Don Ware, Spray Fields West; Merilu and Rufus Rose, Shalimar; Les Kelly, FWB East; Bill Bremser, Okaloosa Island (roving in the afternoon): Bruce Purdy, FWB North; Kathy Gault, Reservation and SF East; Morris Clark, Valparaiso; Fred Doyle, Niceville North; Gary Parsons, Niceville South; Carole and Phil Goodyear, White Point; Bob and Lucy Duncan who recorded 84 species in Destin West, Jaime Hill and Zoe, Destin East; and Phyllis and Mike Cheney, FWB West. Bob McKenney worked half a day independently in Niceville North, and Bob Reid and Marie Woodward reported feeder lists. The only Pine Siskins were at Reid's feeder. Twelve other species that were represented by a single bird were: American Bittern, Little Blue Heron, Green Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Blue-winged Teal, Common Golden-eye, Clapper Rail, Spotted Sandpiper, American Woodcock, Sandwich Tern, Eastern Screech-Owl, and Dark-eyed Junco. Our most numerous species this year were 2271 European Starlings, 1261 Laughing Gulls, and 1233 Bonaparte's Gulls. Christmas Bird Count Results - 2010 (PDF)
I thank all participants for their time, effort, and expertise. The complete database is attached and can be accessed at www.christmasbirdcount.org. The count code is FLCB. Please mark your calendars for our next CBC on December 19th and the next migration count on May 14th. July 3, 2010 - October 9, 2010 Donald M. Ware, ChapterBird Count Coordinator Gary Parsons, Chapter President The objective of this survey was the following: To view the entire presentation in PDF format, please click here. Fall Migration Count Results (2010) Donald M. Ware, Bird Count Coordinator We had 19 field observers in 10 parties. We counted 7498 birds of 116 species. The 36 species shown in blue are migrants that do not breed in this county. Our documented effort was 45 party hours on foot and 26 hours in a car, after adding one hour on foot average for each beach section counted in the Shorebird Survey. The only write-ins on the state list were the Yellow-headed Blackbird I found at the Destin Bridge pond, the Buff-breasted Sandpiper I found at the Okaloosa holding pond, and George and Renee Gollehon's Buff-bellied Hummingbird feeding among the 50 hummingbirds at their nine feeders. Thanks for all of your help. I hope you had fun doing it. Carole added all of our Walton County Shorebird Survey data to the North American Migration Count data of September 18th to provide the attached spread sheet. We had 21 field observers in 10 parties. We counted 4053 birds of 108 species. The 26 species shown in blue are migrants that do not breed in this county. Our documented effort was 36.5 party hours on foot and 23.4 hours in a car, 4 hours in a boat, and 3.5 hours on an ATV.
Okaloosa County Results - Fall 2010 (PDF) Donald M. Ware, Bird Count Coordinator Thirty field birders and 1 yard only birder participated in our 19th Spring North American Migration Count on May 8th, 16 in Okaloosa County and 14 in Walton County. All 14 of our areas had at least yard birder participants. At 3:28 PM Carol and I did double duty surveying Ft. Walton Beach South and then went back to the Okaloosa STF mud flats to count shorebirds moving through. There were 9,262 birds of 148 species counted in both counties, 10 more species than last Spring, 135 species in Okaloosa and 113 in Walton. Forty four of these species are not known to breed here, 37 in Okaloosa and 24 in Walton. Party leaders were: Kelly Jones, Lee Blalock, Phyllis Cheney, Gary Parsons, Bob Mckenney, Gene Estes, Istvan Zsok and myself in Okaloosa; and Bob Reid, Nancy Donaldson, Chester Winegarner, James Hill, Carole Goodyear, and John Walton, in Walton County. Dee Nickerson birded her yard in Choctaw Beach. I thank you and your recorders and spotters for your contributions. The 14 species found in Walton County, but not in Okaloosa were: 75 American White Pelicans, 2 Magnificent Frigatebirds, 1 Reddish Egret, 18 Yellow-crowned Night Herons, 42 White Ibis, 12 Wood Ducks, 1 Greater Scaup, 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk, 2 Snowy Plovers, 13 Semipalmated Plovers, 1 Piping Plover, 11 Acadian Flycatchers, 3 Yellow-throated Warblers, and 3 Black-and-white Warblers. In Okaloosa County there were 16 species not found in Walton that were represented by a single bird: Pied-billed Grebe, Tricolored Heron, Canada Goose, Bald Eagle, Western Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Ring-billed Gull, Sandwich Tern, Eastern Screech Owl, Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Gray Kingbird, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, American Redstart, Worm-eating Warbler, and Kentucky Warbler The most numerous species this year were 667 Sanderlings, 516 Northern Cardinals, and 500 Morning Doves. Please mark your calendar now for the fall migration count on September 18th. Okaloosa/Walton County Results - Spring 2010(PDF) 2009Fall Migration Count Results (2009)Donald M. Ware, Bird Count Coordinator Forty-two field birders and 2 feeder watchers participated in our Fall North American Migration Count on September 19th, 17 in Okaloosa County and 25 in Walton County. We gathered some data in all of our 14 areas except Crestview. I am pleased that we had several first-time participants who are excited about how much fun they had. Together we counted 11,376 birds of 144 species, 121 species in Okaloosa County and 112 in Walton. Even though we are in the leading edge of the migration nationally, we found 45 migrant species that don't breed here, 32 in Okaloosa and 26 in Walton. Area leaders in Okaloosa County were Kelly Jones, Lenny Fenimore, Gary Parsons, Karen Wagoner, Beau Didalie, and myself, with Bob McKenney doing his usual good work on the Eglin Eagle Golf Course, the college, and Rocky Bayou GC. Area Leaders in Walton were Bob Reid, Mary Theberge, Chet Winegarner, Dee Nickerson, and Carole Goodyear, with John Walton covering the Bunker region only accessible from Bay County. I thank you and all of your supporters for your contributions. The 20 species found in Walton County, but not in Okaloosa were: 4 Anhinga, 1 Reddish Egret, 1 Black-crowned Night Heron, 1 Lesser Scaup, 3 Clapper Rails, 8 Least Terns, 1 Black-chinned Hummingbird, 1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, 6 Tree Swallows, 1 White-breasted Nuthatch, 1 House Wren, 2 American Robins, 2 Orange-crowned Warblers, 1 Magnolia Warbler, 1 Yellow-throated Warbler, 2 Black-and-white Warblers, 1 American Redstart, 1 Swainson's Warbler, 1 Hooded Warbler, and 1 Eastern Meadowlark. In Okaloosa County there were 9 species not found in Walton and represented by a single bird: Common Loon, Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Chuck-wills-widow, Bank Swallow, Yellow-throated Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler, Prairie Warbler, and Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow. The Whistling Duck was first seen resting on the edge of the FWB STF holding pond at mid-day, and at the Okaloosa holding pond at dusk. I saw the silent Chuck-wills-widow fly through my bright lights during our first owling stop on Timberlake Road. The most numerous species this year were 1,361 European Starlings, 1,349 Mourning Doves, and 958 Cattle Egrets. Please mark your calendar now our Christmas Count December 14th, the earliest possible date, and for the Spring Migration Count May 8th. Okaloosa County Results - Fall 2009 (PDF) Walton County Results - Fall 2009 (PDF) Spring Migration Count Results (2009) Donald M. Ware, Bird Count Coordinator Thirty-nine field birders and 2 feeder watchers participated in our 18th Spring North American Migration Count on May 9th, 13 in Okaloosa County and 26 in Walton County. Three of our 14 areas were uncovered due to travel or illness of qualified leaders, and after 4 PM Carol and I did double duty in Ft. Walton Beach South and at Destin Point to include beach habitat in Okaloosa County. We all need to help qualify young birders to lead, and I will try harder to recruit leaders from neighboring counties for this fun and revealing exercise. There were 9,698 birds of 138 species counted in both counties, down 16 species from last year, 113 species in Okaloosa and 117 in Walton. Forty of these species are not known to breed here, 29 in Okaloosa and 27 in Walton. Mary Theberge recruited three other party leaders for her DeFuniak Springs area, and Carole Goodyear recruited 6 party leaders (plus 2 feeder watchers) in South Walton. Other area leaders were: Kelly Jones, Trish Reynolds, Lois Gilman, Lenny Fenimore, and myself in Okaloosa; and Chester Winegarner, and Shea Armstrong in Walton Count, and James R. Hill, III and John Walton for surveying in Walton by boat. I thank you and all of your recorders, spotters, and feeder watchers for your contributions. The 22 species found in Okaloosa County, but not in Walton were: Common Loon, Northern Gannet, Magnificant Frigatebird, Canada Goose, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Common Moorhen, Black-necked Stilt, Lesser Yellowlegs, Herring Gull, Common Tern, Black Skimmer, White-winged Dove, Eastern Screech-Owl, Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Tree Swallow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, American Redstart, Yellow-breasted Chat, Bachman's Sparrow, and Savannah Sparrow. In Walton County there were nine species not found in Okaloosa that were represented by a single bird: Anhinga, Greater Scaup, Red-breasted Merganser, Clapper Rail, American Coot, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and Scarlet Tanager. We had all-time high records of 179 Mississippi Kites and 36 Swallow-tailed Kites. The most numerous species this year were 635 Northern Mockingbirds (our state bird), 536 Northern Cardinals, and 452 Morning Doves. Please mark your calendar now for the fall migration count on September 19th. Okaloosa County Results - Spring 2009 (PDF) Walton County Results - Spring 2009 (PDF) 2008Christmas Bird Count (2008)Donald M. Ware, Bird Count Coordinator On 15 December 40 participants in the Choctawhatchee Bay, FL CBC found 22,612 birds of 150 species, plus 6 Count Week species. This is a threshold number of species for special recognition. Thanks for your good work. Species new to the count this year included a Black-headed Grosbeak found by Tom Fleck on his feeder in the north section of Ft. Walton Beach. Also, I spotted a count week Jaeger species two days before the count when I was scouting the FWB South area. It was making a pass on a group of Bonaparte's Gulls and Red-breasted Mergansers just beyond the breakers. We reported five species of Hummingbirds: 3 Rufous, 2 Ruby-throated, 1 Black-chinned, 2 Buff-bellied, and 1 Calliope. Fred Bassett had banded each species. Other rare finds were: a Yellow-throated Vireo found by Bob Reid, two groups of three Barn Swallows that were late migrants, a Wilson's Warbler found by Kathy Gault, and a Blue Grosbeak that I found scouting and again early on count day. The 8 Black Scoters and 4 Surf Scoters found by Bill Bremser were also good to report. The bird that caused the most excitement was identified by experts to be a dark phase, Harlan's, Red-tailed Hawk, thanks to the excellent photography of Rob Palmer, a visiting birder. Other Count Week birds were: a flock of White Pelicans that flew low over my house on 12 December, a new yard bird for me; a Northern Harrier on the FWB spray fields; a Dunlin feeding with Sanderlings on the beach, and three Black Skimmers at the east jetty that I found scouting; a Brown Creeper in Fred Gannon SP, and a Winter Wren at the Destin Point lake that I found while searching for missed birds. We had record high numbers for five species on our CBC: 88 Canada Geese, 145 Mallards, 277 Hooded Mergansers (101 being our previous high), 1,035 Red Breasted Mergansers, and 511 Rock Pigeons. I assigned leaders for our 14 designated areas: Lenny Fenimore, Base; Don Ware, Spray Fields West; Lois Gilman, Shalimar; Kelly and Sarah Jones, FWB East; Bill Bremser, Okaloosa Island (roving in the afternoon): Kathy Gault, FWB North; Ann and Dan Forster, Reservation and SF East; Morris Clark, Valparaiso; Bob Reid and Betsy Clark, Niceville North; Bob Penhollow and Pat Baker, Niceville South; Carole and Phil Goodyear, White Point; Bob and Lucy Duncan, Destin West, Duane and Lynn Brown (from Alabama), Destin East; and Sandra Lefstad, FWB West. Bob McKenney worked half a day independently in Niceville North, and Carol Goodyear recruited five additional party leaders and a feeder watcher for her area. This year Bob and Lucy Duncan found the most species by a small margin, 84. Other species that were represented by a single bird were: Snowy Egret, Green Heron, Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, Canvasback, Common Goldeneye, Peregrine Falcon, King Rail, Virginia Rail, Eastern Screech Owl, Barred Owl, Whip-poor-will, Yellow-throated Warbler, and Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow. Our most numerous species this year were 2665 European Starlings, and 2018 Mourning Doves, and 1486 Laughing Gulls. I thank all participants for their time, effort and expertise. The complete database can be accessed at www.audubon.org/bird/cbc. The count code is FLCB. Please mark your calendars for our next CBC on 14 Dec 09 and the next migration count on 9 May. Fall Migration Count Results (2008) Donald M. Ware, Bird Count Coordinator Fifty-five field birders and one feeder watcher on 20 Sep 08 participated in our 14th annual Fall North American Migration Count in Okaloosa and Walton Counties . The leaders in Okaloosa were Kelly Jones, Kathy Gault, Don Ware, Lenny Fenimore, Bob Penhollow, Lois Gilman (with Bill Stanley from Ohio), and Alan Knothe. We had no records from Destin, but the Greater Flamingo left on the 17th for Santa Rosa County and was reported to the Florida Coordinator. The leaders in Walton were; Bob Reid, Mary Theberge , Chet Winegarner,Thelma Phillips, Shea Armstrong, and Carole Goodyear. The weather was wonderful, partly cloudy with a light breeze and 66-88 F. We counted 7993 birds in Okaloosa and 5390 in Walton County, four thousand more that last Fall. Okaloosa birders found 140 species, and birders in Walton found 115, 154 species in both counties. However, Walton birders found 16 species not found in Okaloosa: Anhinga, Broad-winged Hawk, Mottled Duck, Sandwich Tern, Common Tern, Tree Swallow, Hairy Woodpecker, Marsh Wren, American Robin, Magnolia Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Worm-eating Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, Chipping Sparrow, Bobolink The 54 species not known to breed in these counties are; 376 Brown Pelicans, 30 Canada Geese, 54 Blue-winged Teal, 2 Northern Shovelers, 1 Lesser Scaup, 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk, 5 Merlin, 1 Peregrine Falcon, 1 Black-bellied Plover, 4 Semipalmated Plovers, 4 Greater and 21 Lesser Yellowlegs, 1 Solitary Sandpiper, 4 Spotted Sandpipers, 14 Ruddy Turnstones, 118 Sanderlings, 12 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 25 Least, 1 Baird's, 10 Pectoral, and 9 Stilt Sandpipers, 1 Short-billed Dowitcher, 882 Laughing Gulls, 3 Ring-billed, and 3 Herring Gulls, 215 Royal Terns, 105 Sandwich, 245 Common, 647 Forster's, and 1500 Black Terns, 1 Rufous Hummingbird, 8 Tree Swallows, 1 House Wren, 1 Marsh Wren, 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 1 Veery, 1 Gray-cheeked Thrush, 1 Hermit Thrush, 4 Blue-headed Vireos, 1 Golden-winged Warbler, 6 Orange-crowned, 45 Yellow, 1 Magnolia, 1 Yellow-rumped, 1 Blackburnian, 6 Palm, and 3 Black-and-white Warblers, 11 American Redstarts, 1 Worm-eating Warbler, 1 Northern Waterthrush, and 7 Scarlet Tanagers. The most numerous species this fall were 1500 Black Terns, 882 Laughing Gulls, 856 Morning Doves and 647 Forster's Terns. I want to thank everyone that participated in this "citizen science" project, and I hope you had as much fun as I did. Please mark your calendars for our Christmas Count on December 15th. That is the earliest date we have ever had our count, and it could mean good weather and more species to be found. Okaloosa County Results - Fall 2008 (PDF) Walton County Results - Fall 2008 (PDF)
Spring Migration Count Results (2008) 2007Christmas Bird Count (2007)Donald M. Ware, Bird Count Coordinator On 17 December 45 participants in the Choctawhatchee Bay, FL CBC found 19,877 birds of 144 species, plus 6 Count Week species. The only species new to the count was a Bell's Vireo found by Morris Clark on his first trip from Pensacola to count birds in Shalimar. A Great Black Backed Gull found in Destin by the Duncan's and a Buff-bellied Hummingbird found by Kelly Jones in Gerald Roper's back yard were rare. Other unusual species were: 2 all-dark ibis (Plegadis sp.) flying west over the woods south of the FWB spray fields, 2 Common Goldeneyes on the Eglin STF holding pond, and a Ruby-throated Hummingbird that stayed at Blake Hardison's home in Niceville until 14 December. We had a record high count for Mallard (114 mostly feral) and Great Blue Herron (170). Other Count Week birds were; American Bittern at Bay Drive and Marina in Niceville (16th), Winter Wren at Sandra Lefstad's (16th), Barred Owl heard by Bob Penhollow in Niceville (14th), Barn Swallow feeding over the Okaloosa holding pond (14th), and 7 surf or black scoters (Melanitta sp.) that I found between the Cinco Bridge and the FWB Yacht Club (20th). I assigned leaders for our 14 designated areas: Lenny Fenimore, Base; Don Ware, Spray Fields West; Merilu and Rufus Rose, Shalimar; Kelly and Sarah Jones, FWB East; Bill Bremser, Okaloosa Island (roving in the afternoon): Thelma Phillips, FWB North; Ann and Dan Forster, Reservation and SF East; Morris Clark, Valparaiso; Bob Reid and Betsy Clark, Niceville North; Bob Penhollow and Pat Baker, Niceville South; Carole and Phil Goodyear, White Point; Bob and Lucy Duncan, Destin West, and Charlie Saleeby, Destin East; and Sandra Lefstad, FWB West. Bob McKenney worked half a day independently in Niceville North, and Carol Goodyear recruited four additional party leaders for her area and four feeder watchers. If Bill Bremser had not found four species in my area that I missed, Bob and Lucy Duncan would have had the high count of species in Destin. The Spray Fields West area has always had the most species. Other species that were represented by a single bird were: Snowy Egret, Green Heron, Redhead, Northern Pintail, Peregrine Falcon, Sora, Lesser Yellowlegs, Spotted Sandpiper, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Rufous Hummingbird, Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Sedge Wren, and Summer Tanager. Our most numerous species this year were 1827 European Starlings, and 1613 Mourning Doves, and 1384 Double-crested Cormorants. I thank all participants for their time, effort and expertise. The complete database can be accessed at www.audubon.org/bird/cbc. The count code is FLCB. Fall Migration Count Results (2007) Donald M. Ware, Bird Count Coordinator Fifty-six birders participated in our 13th Fall North American Migration Count on September 15th, 22 in Okaloosa County and 34 in Walton County. That is a record number of participants. I found leaders for each of our 14 areas except FWB Central, and four of those leaders recruited other parties to assist. The newspaper advertisements were successful in attracting nature lovers to volunteer as spotters or recorders. The three areas that reported the most species were FWB North - 87, DeFuniak Springs - 76, and Point Washington - 73. There were 9150 birds of 157 species counted in the two counties , 129 species in Okaloosa and 116 in Walton County. They included 60 species that do not breed here. We found 17 shorebird species and 19 warbler species. I want to thank all participants and I hope they enjoyed their time in various natural habitats listening to bird song. Okaloosa County Results - Fall 2007 (PDF) Walton County Results - Fall 2007 (PDF) Spring Migration Count Results (2007) Donald M. Ware, Bird Count Coordinator Forty field birders and 3 feeder watchers participated in our 16th Spring North American Migration Count on May 12th, 12 in Okaloosa County and 28 in Walton County . Although I found qualified leaders for only 6 of the 8 areas of Okaloosa and 5 of the 6 areas of Walton, Mary Theberge recruited 8 people in six parties near Defuniak Springs, and Carole Goodyear recruited 8 people in four parties in South Walton County . Carole and her recruits topped the list of species found with 98, and Mary and her recruits found 83 species. Sandra Lefstad had agreed to survey the Ft. Walton Beach South area, but cancelled when an her arm was put in a cast that prevented her holding her binoculars, so she spent the day birding her yard on Bass Lake and found 41 species. Bass Lake is in my FWB North area, and five of hers were species that I could not find, boosting that area total to 92 species. There were 9808 birds of 143 species counted in the two counties that included 42 species that do not breed here, 111 species in Okaloosa and 128 in Walton County . I want to thank all participants and I hope they enjoyed their time in various natural habitats listening to bird song. I especially want to thank the other area leaders counting in Okaloosa; Patricia Reynolds, Lenny Fenimore, Pat Baker , Virginia Spisak and James Kowalski, and in Walton County; Bob Reid, Chet Winegarner, Mary Theberge , Thelma Phillips, and Carole Goodyear. The 33 species found in Walton County and not found in Okaloosa were; 5 Anhinga, 1 Tricolored Heron, 3 Black-crowned Night Herons, 34 White Ibis, 1 Bald Eagle, 4 American Kestrels, 1 Merlin, 1 Clapper Rail, 3 Solitary Sandpipers, 3 Spotted Sandpipers, 2 Ruddy Turnstones, 1 Bonaparte's Gull, 10 Ring-billed Gulls, 1 Herring Gull, 3 Royal Terns, 2 Forster's Terns, 3 Great Horned Owls, 1 Eastern Wood Pewee, 1 Acadian Flycatcher, 10 Swainson's Thrushes, 1 Wood Thrush, 8 American Robins, 1 Yellow-throated Vireo, 1 Yellow Warbler, 1 Yellow-throated Warbler, 1 Palm Warbler, 1 Cerulean Warbler, 1 Worm-eating Warbler, 12 Bachman's Sparrows, 2 Chipping Sparrows, 1 very late Song Sparrow, 1 Baltimore Oriole and 3 American Goldfinch. It is obvious we were short on party-hours-on-foot in the coastal and northern regions of Okaloosa County . Kowalski could only afford 4 ½ hours in the Destin area, leaving at 10 AM to band a bumper crop of Red-cockaded Woodpecker babies. The most numerous species this year were 660 Mourning Doves, 630 European Starlings, and 511 Northern Mockingbirds – our state bird. Please mark your calendar now for the fall migration count on September 15th. Okaloosa County Results - Spring 2007 (PDF) Walton County Results - Spring 2007 (PDF) |
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