[Maine-birds] Isles of Shoals Christmas Bird Count - December 29, 2021

The Isles of Shoals Christmas Bird Count sailed yesterday for the first time since 2014.  I tried a new strategy for getting the trip off the dock, choosing an entire week to pick the best day.  This paid off in terms of weather, but created its own challenges in terms of coordination. This was the 27th time the count has run since 1966.  

Many thanks to Bryan Soares (captain of the Gulf Challenger), Alex de Steiguer (winter caretaker on Star Island) and the Star Island Corporation; without them this count would be impossible. Thanks to Steve Mirick for taking on the microphone on the boat.

For folks who don't want to read all of this, our CBC totals are found below, and the eBird trip summaries can be found here, note there's some overlap between checklists, and a few birds are excluded from the count for various reasons: https://ebird.org/tripreport/26036

The trip was a great success for birds as well, we recorded 43 species, the second highest total in the history of the count.  We didn't miss any of the nine species recorded in all previous years, but and we had one new species for the count -- Common Raven, perhaps not a terrible surprise given their expansion in New England in the past 20 years. Two species had only been recorded once before: King Eider and Sanderling. We recorded new high counts for four species: Black Scoter, Ring-billed Gull, Harlequin Duck, and Carolina Wren, and tied a fifth: American Goldfinch.  The former two obliterated previous high counts, with 665 Black Scoters up from 43, and 18 Ring-billed Gulls up from 6.

Alcids were present in moderate numbers, with Black Guillemots making up the majority of count observations. Razorbills were most conspicuous in the Piscataqua River, outside the count.  We also had small numbers of Dovekies and a single Common Murre, although only brief views and they were missed by many.  In addition to the two high counts, ducks were present in good numbers, with above average numbers of Common Eider and Long-tailed Duck.  Although Purple Sandpiper numbers were low, they were joined by three other species, including a Ruddy Turnstone, which is surprisingly regular on the count (7th record).

Landbirds were more abundant than they are in many years - we recorded 11 species of passerines (plus Downy Woodpecker), with most species aside from Northern Cardinal and Song Sparrow found inconsistently between years.  As is typical we also had Snowy Owls, with five birds found across the islands - two on Star, one on Seavey, one on Smuttynose, and one on Duck.  Peregrine Falcons have been regular in recent years especially on Boon Island where we found one this year.  

Species											Number				Flags
Canada Goose											16
American Black Duck											14
King Eider											1				US,
Common Eider											507
Harlequin Duck											13				HC,
Surf Scoter											26
White-winged Scoter											38
Black Scoter											665				HC,
Long-tailed Duck											221
Common Goldeneye											2
Red-breasted Merganser											14
Common Loon											31
Red-necked Grebe											1
Northern Gannet											3
Great Cormorant											33
Ruddy Turnstone											1
Sanderling											1				US
Dunlin											19
Purple Sandpiper											95
Dovekie											3
Common Murre											1
Razorbill											6
large alcid sp.											1
Black Guillemot											22
Black-legged Kittiwake											2
Bonaparte's Gull											3
Ring-billed Gull											18				HC,
Herring Gull											330
Iceland Gull (kumlieni)											5
Great Black-backed Gull											120
Snowy Owl											5
Downy Woodpecker											1
Peregrine Falcon											1
Common Raven											1				US,
Carolina Wren											4				HC,
Hermit Thrush											1
European Starling											14
Snow Bunting											100
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored)											2
White-throated Sparrow											4
Song Sparrow											19
Swamp Sparrow											4
Northern Cardinal											8
American Goldfinch											3				HC,

Ben Griffith

Plymouth, MA

Compiler Isles of Shoals CBC

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