2 January 2000 -- Count Summary
(Count History: January
1978 - January 2000)
Species reported Count Day: 116 (+ 2 exotics) (+ 2 additional during count Week)
Total individual birds reported Count Day: 32,403
Participants: 100 (64 in the field + 36 at feeders/YARD)2 January 2000. Many thanks to the record high number of participants, finally hitting triple figures -- exactly 100 (64 in the field, 36 at feeders). Despite the more thorough coverage, our species numbers were down a bit. As a result of the drought, some areas where there usually is standing water were dry. Thus, waterfowl in particular were absent. Numbers of other species -- in particular those that prefer wet sites (e.g., Common Yellowthroat, LeContes's Sparrow) -- were down. Habitat loss in the northeastern and north-central portions of the count circle continues at a discouragingly rapid rate: there is almost no quality habitat remaining in those areas.
Particularly interesting was the observation of 4(!) Peregrine Falcons -- the first time for this species on the Buffalo Bayou CBC. Two of these were adults perched & preening on one of the buildings in the Galleria, near the east end of the count circle; the others were an immature along Braes Bayou near Gessner and an adult along Clay Road in the northwestern part of the circle. Note: there have been scattered reports of Peregrines at the Galleria for at least a month or two (including photos of a third bird, an immature on a ledge outside the photographer's office), so they may be here for the winter (or longer?).
Another species new for this CBC is Eurasian Collared Dove. Is this a new arrival in the Hoston area? Or is it possible that it has been here well before this year, with its initial immigration into Houston initially going unnoticed because observers may have assumed all Streptopelia sp. were Ringed Turtle-Dove? How many years has Eurasian Collared Dove been in Houston and, more specifically, in the Buffalo Bayou CBC circle may be difficult to estimate -- I am unaware of literature on this subject. However, it certainly is possible that in prior Buffalo Bayou CBCs, some individuals reported as Ringed Turtle-Dove may in fact have been Eurasian Collared Dove.
Also new to the count was Joe Kennedy's sighting of a Black-throated Gray Warbler at his house. And one Budgerigar (exotic) observed. Other species of note: Neotropic Cormorant (Count Week), 2 Merlin, 4 Caspian Tern (unusual right in the city), White-winged Doves in record numbers (358), 1 Common Nighthawk (count week in Bear Creek Park), Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Black-and-white Warbler, Eastern Towhee, Harris' Sparrow, and Rusty Blackbird (Bear Creek Park).
--Bob Honig, Compiler
(Buffalo Bayou Christmas Bird Count web pages are hosted by the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center)