4th Annual Hat Creek Bird Count
December 16 2007
by Ken Wright (compiler)
Nine field participants tallied 31 species and 581 individual birds. A further 6 species were seen during count week. This count was characterized by wind. It blew hard out of the south throughout the day and certainly limited our ability to detect higher-pitched passerines in exposed areas. This said, there are several areas that were relatively sheltered by topography and we put lots of effort in those places. Very little snow in the valley compared to Lillooet which has about 30 cm. We documented six new species on count day and a further two species for count week. Most notetable among the new species was a Northern Hawk Owl just north of Goose Lake. Equally interesting was a flock of four White-crowned Sparrows. Wind aside, it was a great day overall. Many thanks to Colin Hegan, Maureen Scott, Ingrid Mertens, and Eli Wallace for joining the Hat Creek CBC for the first time. I am grateful to Ian Routley and Vivian Birch-Jones for faithfully participating in the Hat Creek CBC over the years. I'd like to extend a special thanks to Peter McAllister and Bernadette Mertens-McAllister for hosting this count.
| Species | Number or cw |
Flags | Max Number |
Number of counts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mallard |
2 |
3 in 103 |
2 |
|
Ruffed Grouse |
2 |
4 in 103 |
3 |
|
Dusky Grouse |
cw |
in |
||
Northern Harrier |
1 |
in |
||
Red-tailed Hawk |
1 |
in |
||
Rough-legged Hawk |
3 |
HC, |
1 in 103 |
2 |
Killdeer |
cw |
in |
||
Great Horned Owl |
cw |
1 in 103 |
2 |
|
Northern Hawk Owl |
1 |
in |
||
2 |
6 in 103 |
1 |
||
Belted Kingfisher |
cw |
3 in 103 |
2 |
|
Downy Woodpecker |
3 |
4 in 102 |
3 |
|
Hairy Woodpecker |
2 |
9 in 103 |
3 |
|
Northern (Red-shafted) Flicker |
1 |
6 in 102 |
3 |
|
Pileated Woodpecker |
1 |
3 in 103 |
3 |
|
Northern Shrike |
4 |
HC, |
2 in 107 |
2 |
Clark's Nutcracker |
24 |
HC, |
16 in 103 |
3 |
Black-billed Magpie |
32 |
66 in 107 |
3 |
|
American Crow |
2 |
8 in 107 |
1 |
|
Common Raven |
12 |
47 in 103 |
3 |
|
Black-capped Chickadee |
30 |
58 in 103 |
3 |
|
Mountain Chickadee |
67 |
91 in 103 |
3 |
|
Red-breasted Nuthatch |
3 |
LC, |
80 in 102 |
3 |
White-breasted Nuthatch |
2 |
5 in 103 |
2 |
|
Brown Creeper |
3 |
HC, |
1 in 107 |
1 |
American Dipper |
cw |
1 in 102 |
2 |
|
Golden-crowned Kinglet |
30 |
3 in 102 |
3 |
|
Townsend's Solitaire |
10 |
59 in 103 |
3 |
|
Bohemian Waxwing |
252 |
333 in 102 |
3 |
|
Spotted Towhee |
1 |
in |
||
Song Sparrow |
1 |
1 in 107 |
3 |
|
White-crowned Sparrow |
4 |
in |
||
Snow Bunting |
cw |
45 in 103 |
2 |
|
Pine Grosbeak |
3 |
74 in 102 |
3 |
|
White-winged Crossbill |
12 |
in |
||
crossbill sp. |
2 |
in |
||
Common Redpoll |
68 |
377 in 102 |
2 |
|
TOTAL INDIVIDUALS COUNTED |
581 |
|||
TOTAL SPECIES REPORTED |
31 |