2023 Clallam County Birdathon REPORT

by Bob Boekelheide

The results are in for the 2023 International Migratory Bird Count and Clallam County Birdathon, held on May 13, 2023.  Overall, we had a very high number of people participating in the count, but unfortunately low numbers of birds and bird species.

In total, 102 participants in 74 parties counted 12,161 individual birds of 161 species. Click here to see the accompanying table. The number of participants is the second highest for the last 30 years, so lots of people were out counting birds. Despite the extra observers, however, the number of individual birds was one of the lowest for the last 30 years, and the number of species tied for the lowest number. The counts didn’t come close to our record number of species (203 in 2012) or record number of individuals (33,537 in 2010).

Why such low numbers and species of birds this year? First, we did not have offshore boats or repositioning cruise ships passing through Clallam that day, which are usually good for several pelagic species and possibly a few thousand gulls, murres, auklets, and shearwaters. Second, Hurricane Ridge was closed, so we missed several mountain species often seen there. Third, it was bright and sunny on count day, reaching 80 degrees F some places in Clallam. Warm and clear weather also occurred several days prior to the count, which may have encouraged migrants to depart our area before count day. Nesting birds are also less likely to sing longer in the day when it is bright and sunny, making it more difficult for us to find them.

Lastly, even though there were lots of counters this year, quite a few people only counted for brief periods. Very few people put in a whole day counting birds, or traveled to new and different areas. As an interesting testament to this, this year the average number of hours counted per party was the lowest for the last 30 years. I suspect this trend may also be the result of using eBird, which focuses on specific sites and times, rather than covering larger areas.    

The following species had low counts compared with the prior 30 years: Brant, Greater Scaup, Common Merganser, Rock Pigeon, Vaux’s Swift, Semipalmated Plover, Dunlin, Least Sandpiper, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Barn Owl, American Crow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Tree Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Marsh Wren, American Dipper, European Starling, Varied Thrush, American Robin, Pine Siskin, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, and Brewer’s Blackbird.  Should we be concerned about these species?

Every species has a unique story, of course, but some of these species appear to be having a genuinely low year. For example, Pine Siskins are having one of their lowest years on record in western WA. This goes back to last fall, when they also scored very low on regional Christmas Bird Counts. It appears that siskins remained north last year, fueled by a substantial cone crop in the Canadian taiga forest. Spring weather was quite fickle for aerial insectivores like swallows, cold and rainy one week then record high temperatures the next. It appears that some species really skedaddled out of here before the count, such as Brant and various shorebird species. Could avian influenza also have affected some populations? There is no way to tell, but counts in future years will see if these trends continue.

In the opposite direction, a few species scored high counts, such as Purple Martins, Western Bluebirds, and Chipping Sparrows. Why are Purple Martins doing relatively well in comparison to several other swallow species? Maybe not coincidentally, OPAS’s conservation programs for martins and bluebirds might be helping, although it is also possible that martins and bluebirds gained extra attention during the count. There are so few martins and bluebirds to start with that any increase seems like a big deal.

What species did we miss? The easiest way to answer this question is to look at “count week” birds, which includes species seen in Clallam County during the three days before or after the count, but not on count day. What a list! Long-billed Dowitcher, Greater Yellowlegs, Red Phalarope, Ancient Murrelet, Tufted Puffin, Sabine’s Gull, Heermann’s Gull, Black-footed Albatross, Sooty Shearwater, Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel, Golden Eagle, Broad-winged Hawk, Cassin’s Vireo, California Scrub-Jay, Sage Thrasher, Western Meadowlark, and Common Grackle. Some of these we should have seen, particularly if we had an offshore boat, but others, such as the thrasher and grackle, are genuinely rare birds in Clallam County. To put it another way, if we had seen all 17 of these count-week birds on count day, we would have tallied 178 species instead of 161, putting the count right at the average number of species for the last 30 years.

As always, next year’s Birdathon coincides with International Migratory Bird Day, which always occurs on the second Saturday in May. Put next year’s count on your calendar right now, on May 11, 2024.

And many thanks to everyone who reported birds in Clallam County on Birdathon day:  

Karen Holtrop, Marie Grad, Vince Thrutchley, Joyce Volmut, Laura Davis, Ann Skillman, Dylan Hasemann, Katja Bridwell, Steve Koehler, Sharle Osborne, Steve Ford, John & Linda Mendoza, Audrey & Jim Gift, Susan Savage, Bob Blush, Claire Miller, William Voss, Deborah Turner, Thomas Swartz, Libby Burtner, Brad Lirette, Mel C, Rodger Johnson, Gary Smith, Jerry McDonald, Kate, Peter, & Annette Buenau, Ken Wiersema, Dow Lambert, Len Zeoli, Joodie Klinke, Rhonda Marks-Coats, Scott Burgett, John Gatchet, Bryan Zandberg, Charlotte Watts, Dottie & Ken Hagen, Kathy & Otis Bush, Dee Dee Petersen, Penny & Allen Soares, Iris Winslow, Judy Mullally, Scott Gremel, Melissa Tomamichel, Clarice Arakawa, Shira Smith, Anne Buckley, Samantha Lange, Justin Merondun, Sue Nattinger, Coleman Byrnes, Mary Dufrain, Clark and Jean Moore, Brodie Springer, Kathy & Matt McCoy, Linsey Monaghan, Henry Walsh, Joanie Beldin, Nathan Keen, Tammy Russell, Pamela Jennings, Bill Baker, Enid & Bob Phreaner, Jason Vassallo, Hope Anderson, Jacob Budzis, Kristen Johansen, Cam Goldman, Gary Bullock, Stacey Fradkin, Marion Rutledge, Rebecca Atherton, Powell Jones, Brendan Murtha, Sandy Bengston +1 other, Scott Atkinson & 5 others, Skip Perkins +2 others, Sarah de Leiris +1 other, Renee Marth +1 other, Bob Boekelheide, & Anonymous (3).

If you are interested in local bird sightings, check out eBird at https://ebird.org/explore, then under "Explore Regions" enter Clallam or Jefferson County.  Please join eBird and add your own sightings, as well.