[mou] Cedar Creek CBC results

[Steve Weston]

The sixty-first Cedar Creek Christmas Bird Count was held last Sunday 
(12/17) on a beautiful day.  The combination of good weather, good 
participation, and cooperative birds, resulted in us finding 43 species, 
which appears to be a count record.  Sixteen of those species either tied or 
surpassed the previous high count of inividuals seen in the previous sixty 
years. While there were no new species found, four species (Short-eared Owl, 
Saw-whet Owl, Red-winged Blackbird, and Swamp Sparrow) were recorded only 
once before.  Blue-jay numbers were significantly lower than last year and 
previous years, although Crow numbers were about average.  Finch numbers 
were way down with winter finches absent and others (with the exception of 
Goldfinches) were represented by no more than a couple of small groups. 
Noteble misses included Red-headed Woodpeckers (third time in ten years) and 
Cedar Waxwings.  Raptor numbers were high with several record high counts. 
Notes on some of the more interesting species are below:

Canada Goose (402) - High count.  Mostly on Rum River
Wood Duck (1)  - Ties high count.  Second time in count, but fourth time in 
count week.
Wild Turkey (142) - High count.  Smashes record last year (61).  A flock of 
75+ was seen after the count.
Barld Eagle (11) - High count
Northern Harrier (4) - Ties high count.
Red-tailed Hawk (31) - High count.
Rough-legged Hawk (20) - High count. Almost all in or near Carlos Avery.
Mourning Dove (54) - High count.
Short-eared Owl (1) - Second time for count. Had to wait for it to cross 
into count in Carlos Avery.
Saw-whet Owl (1) - Second time for count.  Fresh killed specimum found.
Pileated Woodpecker (13) - High count
Northern Shrike (6) -Ties high count
Raven (2)  - Two birds found about two miles apart in NE corner of circle.
Starling (536) - High count
Swamp Sparrow (1) - Second time for count.
Northern Cardingal (50) - High count
Red-winged Blackbird (200) - High count. second time for count.

Steve Weston on Quiggley Lake in Eagan, MN
sweston2@comcast.net