By: Sally Siko- Admin Birdwatching NC
I had an excellent time birding with John, Steve and Diane during the 2019 Christmas Bird Count last weekend. We got started at 8am at Yates Mill Park and spent about an hour and a half walking around the small lake in search of all things feathered. It was damp and cool outside, but all together not unpleasant conditions for birding.
The first birds we spotted were Ruddy Ducks, Buffleheads and Canada geese.
We also found white-throated Sparrows, Winter Wrens an Eastern Phoebe, and a Yellow bellied Sapsucker in the woods along the shoreline.
Once we had circled around back to the visitors center, we were rewarded with a small mixed flock of birds including Yellow-rumped Warblers, Cardinals, Towhees, White-throated Sparrows, a Downy Woodpecker and Ruby-crowned Kinglets.
After notating the species that we found, we headed of to check out the Mid Pines dog leg. This is a great spot to find species of birds who require a bit of open fields to hunt and forage in.
There we found a large flock of crows, Canada Geese and an undetermined species of hawk high up in a pine tree in a far away field. John and Steve also heard a horned-Lark singing which was pretty awesome!
After spending a few minutes at the dog leg, we headed off to Lake Wheeler to continue the count. On the way to the parking lot, we drove past a small pond that contained a flock of Mallards and a single male Wood Duck. I stopped and tried to grab some photos but the ducks stayed behind the brushy stuff at the waters edge. Still, I am always happy to see a Wood Duck in the wild. Such gorgeous birds!
After stopping briefly on the park road to check out some Blue jays, Sparrows, Towhees and Juncos, we arrived at the parking lot to the sounds of loud screeches and squawks coming from a huge flock of Ring-billed Gulls and Cormorants nearby. There were hundreds of them feeding on the lake!
One of the highlights of our morning birding at Lake Wheeler was that we found 4 Bald Eagles! This might be a record amount of sightings for this location so we were pretty pumped about this 🙂
When I wrapped up my count at lunch time, I had tallied 41 different species and counted well over 1000 individual birds. Despite the rain and wind, it turned out to be a great morning!
Here are my complete species lists and count tallies as submitted to eBird. I wish that I had photos of every bird on the count but as with it goes with birding, it is not about the photos with me. I am just happy to see and hear them 🙂
Yates Mill Park List
Yates Mill Park, Raleigh US-NC (35.7202,-78.6875), Wake, North Carolina, US
Dec 14, 2019 7:48 AM – 9:48 AM
Protocol: Traveling
0.05 mile(s)
32 species
Canada Goose 14
Mallard 15
Bufflehead 4
Ruddy Duck 25
Ring-billed Gull 8
Great Blue Heron 1
Black Vulture 3
Red-shouldered Hawk (lineatus Group) 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 3
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
Eastern Phoebe 3
Blue Jay 3
American Crow 12
Carolina Chickadee 6
Tufted Titmouse 5
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 5
Winter Wren 1
Carolina Wren 5
Northern Mockingbird 3
Eastern Bluebird 2
Hermit Thrush 1
American Robin 6
American Goldfinch 2
White-throated Sparrow 15
Song Sparrow 6
Eastern Towhee 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 4
Northern Cardinal 14
Second List from Yates Mill Park
Yates Mill Park, Raleigh US-NC (35.7202,-78.6875), Wake, North Carolina, US
Dec 14, 2019 10:04 AM – 10:24 AM
Protocol: Stationary
17 species
Canada Goose 75
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
Carolina Chickadee 2
Tufted Titmouse 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 3
Carolina Wren 1
Brown Thrasher 1
Northern Mockingbird 1
Eastern Bluebird 2
House Finch 2
Chipping Sparrow 3
Eastern Towhee 3
Pine Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 12
Northern Cardinal 5
Mid Pines Rd. dog-leg List
3720 Lake Wheeler Rd, Raleigh US-NC (35.7251,-78.6940), Wake, North Carolina, US
Dec 14, 2019 10:27 AM – 10:37 AM
Protocol: Stationary
4 species
Canada Goose 40
Pileated Woodpecker 1
American Crow 30
Horned Lark 1
Lake Wheeler List
Lake Wheeler Park, Raleigh US-NC (35.7202,-78.6875), Wake, North Carolina, US
Dec 14, 2019 10:46 AM – 12:16 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.05 mile(s)
23 species
Wood Duck 1
Mallard 16
Ruddy Duck 1
Ring-billed Gull 550
Double-crested Cormorant 750
Great Blue Heron 2
Turkey Vulture 4
Bald Eagle 4
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Blue Jay 1
Carolina Chickadee 2
Tufted Titmouse 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 4
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Brown Thrasher 1
Eastern Bluebird 2
American Robin 1
Dark-eyed Junco 12
White-throated Sparrow 5
Eastern Towhee 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler 8
Northern Cardinal 6
If you haven’t done a Christmas Bird Count before, what are you waiting for? It is a great opportunity to connect with your fellow bird lovers and spend time outdoors doing something that you love to do. Plus, your observations are helpful to scientists and conservationists in need of local and global population data. Taking part in the annual Christmas Bird Count is a win-win for you and the birds we love!
Sign up at the the Audubon website below.
https://www.audubon.org/conservation/science/christmas-bird-count