[Surf Scoters flying past the 7th Street seawall. Photo by Skye Haas.] |
Now that the clickers have gone
silent and the sea-foam is starting to settle, let’s take a look at some
noteworthy happenings from the 2014 Avalon Seawatch. *Any and all data presented here should be viewed as preliminary.
First, the basics:
·
The Seawatch was conducted during a standardized
92-day period, beginning September 22 and ending December 22. The count
operated from sunrise to sunset each day, resulting in approximately 966 observation hours.
·
All observations were made from the seawall
parking lot at the end of 7th Street.
·
Skye Haas served as the primary counter, with
Tom Reed covering two days a week. Sam Galick also provided additional coverage
during October.
·
More than
1,000 visitors stopped at the count site during the course of the season.
Next, some highlights:
·
A total of 1,026,836
migrating waterbirds, comprising 69
species, were recorded. This total represents a new single-season record at
Avalon, and is only the second time that the Seawatch has surpassed 1 million
birds.
·
As per usual, peak movements occurred from
late-October through mid-November. Over 615,000
birds were recorded during the period spanning October 20 – November 20,
representing 60% of the season total.
·
The highest single-day total was 45,461, which occurred on October 21.
·
The season’s rarity list was headlined by Ross’s
Goose, Pacific Loon (2), Great Shearwater, Long-tailed Jaeger, and Franklin’s
Gull.
·
Other notables included King Eider (4),
Harlequin Duck (7), Red-necked Grebe (15), Cattle Egret, Razorbill (12), Pomarine
Jaeger (3), Black-legged Kittiwake (12), Little Gull (2), and Iceland Gull (4).
Season totals and peak dates for the 5 most abundant
species in 2014*:
Species
|
Season Total
|
Peak Flight
|
Peak Flight Date
|
Black Scoter
|
256,058
|
14,833
|
November 4
|
Double-crested
Cormorant
|
204,256
|
21,682
|
October 3
|
Surf Scoter
|
126,913
|
23,270
|
October 21
|
Northern Gannet
|
108,985
|
9,628
|
November 15
|
Red-throated Loon
|
76,977
|
9,592
|
November 15
|
Lastly, some fun facts:
·
Total birds ÷ observation days = 11,161 birds per day.
·
Total birds ÷ observation hours = 1,063 birds per hour.
·
Total “biomass” = approximately 2,700,000 pounds, or 1,350 tons, of migrating birds!
·
The first bird of the season was a Laughing
Gull, recorded at 6:37am on September 22. The last bird was a Red-throated
Loon, recorded at 4:39pm on December 22.
·
Though they are not included with the official count, 24
species of shorebirds were seen from the Seawatch during the 2014 season.
Highlights included Baird’s Sandpiper, Marbled Godwit, and American
Golden-Plover.
Readers can expect a more detailed account of the season, penned by Skye Haas, to appear in this space during the next few days. Happy Holidays and many thanks to everyone who supported the 2014 Avalon Seawatch!
[September sunrise at the Seawatch. Until next year... Photo by Tom Reed.] |
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