The 51st Poynette Christmas Bird Count (CBC) was held on New Year’s Eve 2022. Through the first 50 counts in this area, the total CBC species list tallied 133. After 50 counts, it is pretty unlikely to add new species to the list.
For the most recent count, three dozen people in the field walked 19 miles and drove 488 miles and ten people watched their feeders for a total of 10,183 individual birds.
At 6:26 PM on New Year’s Eve, as we were getting ready to tally our results, we saw an email on the Wisbirdn list-serv sharing Aaron Stutz’s summary of Wisconsin’s birding year in review, including rarities and trends, compiled from over 200,000 checklists submitted to eBird.
Horned Grebe (photo by Andy Reago and Chrissy McClaren).
Around 8:00 PM, Al and Gail Shea called us to report their sightings from Count Area 2. The two of them, in some years accompanied by relatives, survey an area that is about 20 square miles, including the Portage Power Plant with Lake Columbia (1.8 miles long), Wisconsin River, farmland, restored prairies, and woods. This might be one of the best birding units of any of the CBC counts in Wisconsin: in the past 40 years, the Sheas have found 114 species, and one year, found a high count of 60 species! These are impressive numbers.
They were excited to report two new species in their count area, that were also new for the Poynette CBC. The first was a Horned Grebe and the second was a Black-legged Kittiwake!
Their eBird report details the sighting: “First observed at 11:05 a.m. at hot water discharge embayment at approximately 30 feet flying by truck. Observed for 1 hour and 10 minutes at very close range, both flying and sitting. Almost all white gull with grayish mantle showing distinct black "M", small black bill, black legs, a black bar on nape, and a black spot behind the eye.”
Al knew right away that the bird was a Black-legged Kittiwake, a species he had previously seen in Alaska. This immature bird, known to be pelagic, should have been spending the winter on an ocean instead of Columbia Lake, on the warm water provided by the Power Plant.
Aaron Stutz’s annual report, which included the Black-legged Kittiwake, notes, “This species is nearly annual along the Great Lakes. 2022 brought three records (Racine, Ozaukee & Grant Counties).” Al and Gail’s end-of-year observation adds Columbia County to that list, and makes the kittiwake a new addition to the Columbia County eBird list as well!
One wonders how many rare birds turn up in Wisconsin during a given year that birders never find. This bird would probably not have been found without the Sheas doing the Poynette CBC.
Since Al and Gail’s report, eBird shows that at least 81 people had the chance to spot the kittiwake too. This rare sighting was quite a long hike, otherwise many others probably would have made the trek. Mark and JD Arnston hiked 3.76 miles on January 14, but seemingly missed the Black-legged Kittiwake by two days. However, they were rewarded with 22 species, including about 500 Common Mergansers, a Horned Grebe, and a Peregrine Falcon.
Thanks to everyone that participated on the Poynette CBC. This was a count that the Sheas, and we, will never forget.
Written by Susan Foote-Martin and Mark Martin, Goose Pond Sanctuary resident managers and Poynette Christmas Bird Count compilers.
More data from the Poynette CBC:
Total species: 68 (61 is average)
Notable finds: Merlin (1), King Rail (1), Wilson’s Snipe (1)
Record counts: Green-winged Teal (5; previously 4), Pileated Woodpeckers (11; previously 9)
Notable high counts: Wild Turkeys (510), Blue Jays (427), American Robins (145), Bald Eagles (87)
Lower than usual counts: Horned Larks (8), Lapland Longspur (0), and Snow Bunting (0)
Additional count week finds: Redhead, Hooded Merganser, Short-eared Owl
Other species found:
Waterfowl and waterbirds: Canada Goose (439), Gadwall (18), American Black Duck (6), Mallard (560), Canvasback (1), Bufflehead (2), Common Goldeneye (7), Common Merganser (99), Red-breasted Merganser (2), Ruddy Duck (2), Ring-billed Gull (2), Herring Gull (5), Great Blue Heron (2), Virginia Rail (3), Belted Kingfisher (3)
Gamefowl: Ring-necked Pheasant (25)
Raptors and owls: Northern Harrier (3), Sharp-shinned Hawk (1), Cooper’s Hawk, (4) Red-shouldered Hawk (1), Red-tailed Hawk (60), Rough-legged Hawk (9), American Kestrel (10), Eastern Screech Owl (4), Great Horned Owl (4), Barred Owl (1)
Woodpeckers: Red-headed Woodpecker (2), Red-bellied Woodpecker (72), Downy Woodpecker (115), Hairy Woodpecker (46), Northern Flicker (6)
Pigeons and doves: Rock Pigeon (703), Eurasian-collared Dove (14), Mourning Dove (414)
Perching birds: Northern Shrike (3), American Crow (757), Black-capped Chickadee (323), Tufted Titmouse (44), Red-breasted Nuthatch (13), White-breasted Nuthatch (95), Brown Creeper (3), Golden Crowned Kinglet (1), Eastern Bluebird (12), European Starling (1,853), Cedar Waxwing (97), American Tree Sparrow (405), Swamp Sparrow (2), White-crowned Sparrow (2), Song Sparrow (8), Fox Sparrow (2), Dark-eyed Junco (1,242), Northern Cardinal (241), House Finch (328), Pine Siskin (2), American Goldfinch (142), House Sparrow (748)
Check out the Audubon Christmas Bird Count page to see reports for all the counts. CBC compilers have until the end of February to submit results.
Cover image: A Black-legged Kittiwake floats on a hunk of ice in Alaska (photo by Mick Thompson).
