113th CBC Georgia Regional Summary

By Giff Beaton

Georgia had 25 counts this year, with a very good state total of 223 accepted species. The 570 participants drove 5494 miles by vehicles, rode 122 miles by boat, and walked 518 miles. Weather was good for most counts, but heavy rain on two counts (Lake Blackshear [LB] and Floyd County [FC]) led to very low numbers almost across the board on those counts. There were a number of new state high counts again this year, and since the last five years have had 26 counts those new high counts are not simply from adding counts. Many of the high counts were coastal, which has had the same six counts for over ten years although observer numbers have been increasing there (Savannah [SV] had 85 participants!). The Callaway CBC was not run this year.

In comparing counts, please note that this year’s count was the 113th CBC, run in 2012/2013. Comparing numbers to older counts will refer to the count number, which coincidentally and luckily for many counts is the same as the year.

This was another really good year for many duck species. Three Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks at SV were the 4th state CBC record, and a Ross’s Goose at Carter’s Lake (CL) was the 3rd record. The total of 1011 Wood Ducks was tied for the highest CBC total since the 92nd count. A new high count of Northern Shovelers was 3261, more than 300 higher than the previous record. Savannah led the way with 3027. The total of 10,994 Ring-necked Ducks was the 3rd highest ever behind the 107th and 109th counts, and once again SV had the high count with 6925. The state count of 462 Bufflehead was the lowest in ten years (average last ten years 856). The count of 2959 Hooded Mergansers was the 2nd highest ever, with the highest individual counts 901 at SV and 733 at Harris Neck (HN).  Red-breasted Mergansers had the highest count since the 98th count at 1422, with Sapelo Island (SI) having the highest number at 1033. The 2015 Ruddy Ducks seen were the 4th highest count for Georgia, and the 1267 at SV was the highest total for the state. Compare this to last year, when there were high counts of all the scoters but only 506 Ruddies.

The state total of 552 Wild Turkeys was the highest count ever, led by 201 at Piedmont N.W.R.- Rum Creek W.M.A. (PR). After last year’s lowest ever Northern Bobwhite total of 10, this year rebounded slightly with 31 over only five counts. It’s still a pretty sad total for this declining species.

Pied-billed Grebe was another new record high with 1486, over 400 more than the previous record (1051 on 107th count). Savannah tallied the most with 773. The first ever Georgia CBC Manx Shearwater was spotted from Cumberland Island (CI) during count week. The total of 392 American White Pelicans is the 2nd highest ever, just below the record of 394 from the 107th count, and the highest state totals were 153 at HN and 130 at SV. The state total of 1022 Brown Pelicans was the lowest since the 100th count, but the 9076 Double-crested Cormorants was the 2nd highest ever, led by St. Catherines (SC) with 2682.

Another new high count was the 1313 Great Egrets, topped by 514 at HN. The total of 2896 Snowy Egrets crushed the old record of 2196, and again HN led the way with 2088. Sixty-eight Yellow-crowned Night-Herons was the 2nd highest total ever, with 62 at Glynn County (GC). The 54 Glossy Ibis was the 4th highest CBC total (37 at SV), and for the 7th year in a row a few Roseate Spoonbills lingered into CBC time, nine this year. These are the only spoonbill records ever on Georgia CBCs. Wood Storks increased again since last year with 410, the 4th highest state CBC total. Black Vulture again set a new high with 2604, besting last year’s 2091, with some quite high counts in the Piedmont at Lake Oconee (LO) of 284 and at Athens (AH) of 274. A total of 119 Bald Eagles was the 2nd highest total ever, behind last year’s 111. Red-shouldered Hawks came in with 338, barely a new high over 110th’s 336. Sixteen Merlins tied the 4th highest CBC total ever.

A Yellow Rail seen at SC was the state’s 2nd CBC record, and the 649 Clapper Rails tallied was a new record total by almost 100 (568 on the 99th). Totals of 251 at SC and 159 at HN were partly helped by very high tides. Two species of plovers provided the 2nd highest numbers ever, after last year’s record counts: Black-bellied with 3125, and Semipalmated with 7102. SC had the high for Black-bellied with 687, and SI had the high count of Semipalmated with 2583. The 2nd highest state total of 1177 Willets was led by 348 at CI and 328 at SC. Lesser Yellowlegs also posted the 2nd highest total with 393, most of which were at SV (372). Marbled Godwit set the 3rd highest count with 178 (168 of them at SC). Only the 6th Georgia CBC Pectoral Sandpiper was at CI. Western Sandpiper and Dunlin are both highly variable in numbers in Georgia: in the last ten years, Western numbers have varied between 911 and 9710, and Dunlin between 2797 and 25,179 -- a difference of about ten-fold for each. This year 6108 Western Sandpipers was the 3rd highest count ever, with 2432 at SI, and the total of 25,179 Dunlin crushed the old state record by almost 400. The leaders for Dunlin were CI with 7800 and SC with 6661. Short-billed Dowitcher also reached the 2nd highest count ever, with 2038 (1263 at GC).

Most gull species had very low numbers, perhaps due to the unusually warm winter. However, only 1546 Laughing Gulls were counted which should have been higher than normal with warm weather, not lower. That’s the lowest state total since the 93rd count, and quite low compared to the last ten year average of 4544. Conversely, both Forster’s and Royal terns set new records: 2981 Forster’s with 1305 at SC and 1099 at CI, and 1066 Royal with 411 at CI. The count of Royals was over 400 more than the previous record of 621 on the 94th count. Black Skimmer also set a new record with 2935, crushing the previous record of 1834 on the 103rd count. The high CBCs were SI with 1448 and GC with 1360. The first Razorbills ever recorded on a Georgia CBC were one each at CI and SC, perhaps not surprising in this year of enormous incursions of this species along the south Atlantic coast.

The 5025 Mourning Doves seen was the 5th highest count for Georgia, but the 138 Common Ground-Doves set a new record, topping the previous record of 107 set way back on the 74th count. Savannah had 47 and Albany (AB) had 37. The Calliope Hummingbird on the Atlanta (AL) count was the state’s 2nd CBC record. The count of 427 Belted Kingfishers set a new record, besting the 379 back on the 111th count two years ago. Almost every woodpecker species had a record or near record count, which can’t be explained by CBC numbers or observer numbers and since several are essentially non-migratory defies easy explanation. Last year also had very high woodpecker totals. New records were 1964 Red-bellied and 964 Downy. Second highest ever were 342 Red-headed and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker with 730. Third highest ever were 48 Red-cockaded (including 31 at PR, which last year had 45) and 511 Pileated (including 42 at SC, 40 at AB, and 37 at Amicalola Falls [AF]). The Red-cockaded count can be partially explained by a new population at Silver Lake on the Bainbridge-Lake Seminole (BL) count (5).

This was also a good year for flycatchers with three species noted. Eastern Phoebes with 1216 set the 2nd highest count, with 126 at AH. A Say’s Phoebe at AB was the state’s 3rd CBC record, and an Ash-throated Flycatcher at Okefenokee N.W.R. (OK) was the state’s 4th CBC record. Both were well photographed.

The American Crow total was 5974, near normal after two very high years, but the Fish Crow total of 397 was the lowest since the 96th count (last ten year average is 3630). Horned Larks were found on four counts in a record total of 81, far higher than the ten year average of 8.2. A whopping 53 were at Dublin (DU) and 24 were at CL. The Tree Swallow total of 932 was very low compared to the last ten year average of 3805, but perhaps not surprising with the warm winter. Four Northern Rough-winged Swallows at Macon (MA) were the 4th CBC record. In a heavy irruption year, the state total of 246 Red-breasted Nuthatches is a new high count, not surprising. What is surprising is that 124 of them were at SC, on the coast. The old state record count was 115 (108th count) for perspective. The highest inland count was 59 at AF, and they were noted on 17 of 25 counts. None of the other coastal counts had high totals, oddly. The 63 Sedge Wrens was the 3rd highest count ever (25 at HN), and the 147 Marsh Wrens was the 2nd highest count ever (149 on the 95th count). Savannah had 52 of the Marsh Wrens, and SC had 51. The total of 664 Hermit Thrushes was the 2nd highest ever, as was the total of 1888 Northern Mockingbirds. The total of 31,258 European Starlings was the most since the 92nd count, although still very low compared to the astronomical numbers in the 1960s.

Seventy-six Orange-crowned Warblers was the 3rd highest total, with 35 of them at SV. Black-and-white Warblers also provided the 3rd highest count with 69, 13 of which were also at SV. A count week American Redstart at SV was the state’s 6th CBC record. Two Northern Waterthrushes were also at SV, considered an extreme rarity in winter just 15 years ago but expected on this count now. The 13th CBC record Yellow-breasted Chat was at Columbus (CO).

A record total of 1718 Eastern Towhees was tallied, eclipsing the old record of 1646 on the 107th count. A Clay-colored Sparrow at SC was the state’s 6th CBC record. The 11 Grasshopper Sparrows was the most in Georgia in 13 years including five at AB, three at LB and three at BL. Both Nelson’s and Saltmarsh sparrows handily bested their previous records, with 165 and 94 respectively.  St. Catherines led the way with both species, counting 124 Nelson’s and 84 Saltmarsh (remember that very high tide?). White-crowned Sparrow also crushed the old record with 271, a new high by 90, with highest state totals of 115 at LO and 101 at CL. Four Lapland Longspurs were found for the state’s 7th and 8th CBC records, two each at CL and DU.

A Rose-breasted Grosbeak coming to a feeder at PR was the state’s 3rd CBC record. For a species with not much good news lately, the total of 2101 Rusty Blackbirds counted was the highest total since the 86th count, and far better than the last ten year average of 1019. The high count was AH with 1157.

A new record was set for Baltimore Oriole with 41, most of which were at SV (37). Two irruptive finches had good totals: Purple Finches with 225, the 2nd highest state total since the 91st count, and 624 Pine Siskins was the 6th highest count ever. Athens led the way with 88 Purple Finches, and the most siskins were at Blue Ridge (BR) with 148 and AL with 142. Finally, House Sparrow numbers continue to drop, with a total of 395 for Georgia this year. That’s the lowest total since the 57th count, when there were only six CBCs in the state. It is easily possible that many CBC observers don’t really work as hard for totals of this introduced species as they do for many others though.