[ Salt-Verde Rivers | Carefree | Gila River ]
The Salt/Verde Rivers Christmas Bird Count (CBC) was held Friday, Dec. 20, 1996. Eighty field observers plus 11 feeder/yard watchers tallied 144 species. This is second only to the 152 species recorded in 1987 in the 12-year history of this count in the East Valley. It was one of those years when a number of montane species (W. Scrub Jay, Mountain Chickadee, White-breasted Nuthatch, and Townsend's Solitaire) decided to come lower for the winter. We can probably chalk that one up to the drought which affected their food supply. Lawrence's Goldfinches, 87 of them, appeared for the first time in 8 years.
The Bird of the Count this year was the male Tufted Duck which finally accommodated Herb Fibel and party by remaining in the Red Mountain Ranch pond for Count Day to establish a new count record. Herb's broad smile at the compilation dinner said it all, as he was becoming a bit frustrated after trying to record it for the prior 4 years of its presence in the area. This brings the cumulative total to 270 species for the 43-year history of Phoenix area CBC's. (Note: since the count circle was moved from the west Valley twelve years ago, this cumulative value is not representative of the current count circle - ed.)
Other species of note included an American Bittern found by Craig Anderson's group in a Salt River marsh. This was a first for the East Valley but a sixth overall count record. A Greater Pewee returned to Troy Corman's area for probably the third season, but was first definitely ID'd last year. This is a third overall record. Troy's Dusky Flycatcher was a fourth count record. A Cordilleran Flycatcher heard by our ace sound recorder, Greg Clark, is a first for the specific species identification. This does not increase the cumulative total, however, as the Pacific Slope Flycatcher, the other part of this "Western" Flycatcher complex, has not as yet been identified for the CBC. This, and the "Western" seen by Cliff Drowley [and Cindy Marple - ed.] are fifth and sixth cumulative count records. The Snow Goose tallied by both the Janet Witzeman and Bruce Palmer parties is a second S/VR CBC record, fifth overall. Two immature (brownish-plumaged) Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers found by Terry Brodner in the Fountain Hills lake area are 6th and 7th cumulative records.
Of interest but not included in the official count was the exotic Budgerigar seen by Doug Alexander's party. Few high numbers of individual bird species were noted. 159 Rock Wrens and 59 Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, however, are both overall count records. New records for the S/VR CBC are the 180 Lesser Goldfinches and the 87 Lawrence's Goldfinches.
Not available for our count compilation was the Christmas Bird Count issue of Audubon Field Notes for the 1995-96 CBC. This issue highlights the Salt/Verde Rivers CBC as second in the US/Canada for the second successive year in numbers of high counts for individual species. Our 20 species compares to Honolulu, HI with 21 species. These species with their numbers for both 1995 and 1996 are shown in the following table.
Nat'l.High
SPECIES 1995 1996
Harris' Hawk 77 67
Gambel's Quail 3463 2891
Mourning Dove 4858 4194
Gila Woodpecker 672 453
Ladder-b. Wdpkr. 92 95
Gilded Flicker 105 57
Greater Pewee 1 1
Say's Phoebe 202 158
Vermilion Flycatcher 38 26
Verdin 441 383
Cactus Wren 706 429
Rock Wren 149 159
Canyon Wren 31 19
Black-tailed Gnat'r. 238 194
Bendire's Thrasher 13 8
Curve-b. Thrasher 271 238
Phainopepla 625 524
Canyon Towhee 193 117
Bl.-thr. Sparrow 1154 845
Yellow-hd. Blackbd. 554 4
The above figures indicate that a similar distinction for the 1996 count is unlikely. The drought is no doubt a factor, but a few more counters, especially in desert areas, would certainly help.
It should be noted that the number of species recorded for the 1996 count was increased by one due to the splitting of the flicker complex to reestablish the Gilded Flicker as a species separate from Northern Flicker. The latter still retains the Red-shafted and Yellow-shafted as subspecies.
Thank you all for participating with a special thanks to the area leaders.
Mark your calenders now for the date of the 1997 count: Friday, Dec.19.
[ Salt-Verde Rivers | Carefree | Gila River ]
The Carefree Christmas Bird Count celebrated its fifth anniversary with record turnouts of birds and people. Some 107 species and 9481 individual birds were recorded by 54 observers. The previous highs were 92 species, 6462 individuals, and 33 observers set just last year. The cumulative total over five years now stands at 119 species.
Several rare sightings were reported from the Camp Creek area. These included Hammond's/Dusky Flycatcher, Pacific-slope/Cordilleran Flycatcher, Wilson's Warbler, and Red Crossbill. In addition our four best birds from last year returned: Red-breasted Nuthatch, Painted Redstart, Fox Sparrow, and Golden-crowned Sparrow. Jays and finches were present in good numbers, as were Townsend's Solitaire (41), Black-chinned Sparrow (21) and Fox Sparrow (10). The Northern Parula recorded for count week was noteworthy also.
The Carefree count was held on January 2, 1997 and coordinated by Walter Thurber. The count encompasses a 15-mile diameter circle that includes the towns of Carefree and Cave Creek, the north end of Scottsdale, and portions of the Tonto National Forest. Elevations range from 1838 to 50l3 feet so there is considerable habitat diversity and a wide variety of birdlife.
Compiler: Walter Thurber, (602) 483-6450
[ Salt-Verde Rivers | Carefree | Gila River ]
The 16th Annual Gila River Christmas Bird Count was held on December 30, 1996. There were 37 participants surveying the deserts, river bottoms, agricultural areas, and rural communities in the Arlington Valley between Buckeye and Gillespie Dam. All participants deserve a big THANK YOU for a job well done. A total of 132 species were found on count day with an additional five species found while scouting count week. This beat the past previous count high by eight species! There were 35 species that had all time high individual counts, with 22 of these having a significant jump in number. Including two of the "count week only" birds, there were six species added to the cumulative total for the entire count which now stands at 194 species.
New species for the count were Neotropic Cormorant (1) found by Bill Grossi's team, Lesser Nighthawk (1) found by Bob Nieman, Lewis' Woodpecker (1) found by Bruce Palmer's team, and Red Crossbill (18) found by Herb Fibel's team. New species seen only during count week were Brown Pelican and Townsend's Warbler. Additional highlights were Sandhill Cranes (16), American Crows (28), and Red-breasted Nuthatch (4). With no flooding in the Gila River during the past few years, rail habitat has become abundant and so have the rails: Clapper (3), Virginia Rail (29), and Sora (27). Abert's Towhees reached an all time high of 1104 individuals, which may be an all time high for any CBC in North America! All three goldfinches reached all time count highs too, with the 206 Lawrence's Goldfinches blowing away the previous high of 14.
It will be hard to beat this new count high, but I sure hope everyone enjoyed themselves as much as I did and will return next year (with friends!) in an effort to break the record!
Compiler: Troy Corman
[ Salt-Verde Rivers | Carefree | Gila River ]
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