Birders - Photo: Bob Boekelheide

Christmas Bird Count Results

2024 Sequim-Dungeness Christmas Bird Count Results

by Bob Boekelheide

Bob Boekelheide

The 2024 Sequim-Dungeness Christmas Bird Count (SDCBC), held on December 16, 2024, turned out to be an amazingly lovely day with light winds and frequent sunbreaks. The lowest temperature, measured before dawn on upper Palo Alto Road, was only 36 F, in contrast to last year’s 19 F with snow and ice. The high temperature this year peaked at a balmy 47 F. Even better, winds dropped before many groups started counting at 8 AM. The small-craft advisory in the Strait of Juan de Fuca expired soon after, providing calm seas and excellent visibility for our offshore boat. It was a lovely day to count birds. (See accompanying table for this year’s SDCBC results).

Despite great conditions, we unfortunately tallied the lowest species total on the SDCBC since 1994, with only 136 species. This is well below our 30-year average of 143 species, and 18 species below our all-time record of 154 set in 2015. We recorded 65,522 individual birds, well above the 30-year average for the total number of birds. A valiant 121 people counted in field parties during the day, with 22 more watching their feeders and backyards.

Why the low species count? The most obvious answer this year is no “rare” birds. We saw good numbers of common species, but very few unusual species. On a typical SDCBC, we are guaranteed at least 110 species every year. There are another 20 or so species that we see most years. Beyond that, species come and go. The SDCBC is renowned for its unusual species, but for some reason they did not join us this year. Where are the oddball shorebirds, raptors, sparrows, buntings, longspurs, warblers, and others that often grace the SDCBC? Apparently, we’re not the only ones – some other counts in western WA similarly reported a dearth of vagrant birds this winter. Only one really unusual species showed up for this count, the Lesser Black-backed Gull here for at least its fourth winter near Washington Harbor. It’s an old friend by now.    

Lesser Black-backed Gull on right, Glaucous-winged Gull on left - Photo by Bob Boekelheide

The most abundant species this year, as usual, was American Wigeon (14,490 birds).  Between Dungeness Bay, Sequim Bay, and Carrie Blake Park, our local wigeon population continues strong.  Following wigeons, the other top-ten species included Pine Siskin (5619), Mallard (4273), American Robin (3753), Dunlin (2954), Glaucous-winged-type Gulls (Olympic and Glaucous-winged, 2584), Dark-eyed Junco (2058), European Starling (1985), Bufflehead (1928), and Northern Pintail (1492).  These ten species comprised about 63 percent of all the birds on our count.

Wigeons at Three Crabs - Photo By Bob Boekelheide

Four species set all-time record counts for the 49 years of the SDCBC: Common Raven, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, and Yellow-rumped Warbler. In general, small forest birds like chickadees, nuthatches, creepers, and kinglets all ranked high this year, perhaps because they’ve had excellent survival with mild winter conditions in lowland forests. It could also be due to our excellent counters who worked hard to find the flocks.  

At the other end of the abundance spectrum, it’s most interesting to note the species that occurred in very low numbers. These are the species we could have easily missed if someone did not look in exactly the right place at the right time. Species tallying very few individuals this year, often only one or two, included Tundra Swan, Canvasback, Barrow’s Goldeneye, Ruffed Grouse, Sora, Northern Pygmy-Owl, Short-eared Owl, Northern Saw-whet Owl, California Scrub-Jay, Hermit Thrush, Orange-crowned Warbler, and Townsend Warbler. Every one of these species has been recorded before on the SDCBC, but many do not occur every year and they almost always occur in low numbers.

Hermit Thrush in Dungeness - Photo by Bob Boekelheide

Several species recorded low numbers compared with their long-term averages. It might mean that they are having an off-year due to nesting failures or lower survival. Or maybe they are somewhere else this fall, shifting wintering areas with the mild conditions. Another possibility is that we just missed some, but I believe our CBC counting methods are consistent enough to show general trends pretty well. Some examples of low counts: Brant, an easily visible and countable marine goose, scored its lowest count since 2006. Gadwall scored their lowest count since 1994. Harlequin Duck, the symbol of Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society, tallied its lowest count since 1979. Barrow’s Goldeneye, which used to nest in former Lake Aldwell on the Elwha River before the dams came out, continued its decline, with its lowest count since 1989. American Coot, which has been noticeably scarce in the Sequim-Dungeness Valley this year, scored its second lowest year since 1978. Ancient Murrelets are particularly interesting. Last year we tallied 905 Ancient Murrelets, the highest count in the United States. This year, our boat party closely searched offshore for Ancient Murrelets but only found 69, their lowest year since 1996.

One scary possibility is that lethal avian flu is working its way through some populations. WDFW has confirmed cases of avian flu in several local dead birds, including swans, ducks, eagles, Red-tailed Hawks, and Peregrine Falcons. Perhaps not coincidentally, this year we tallied the lowest count of Peregrine Falcons since 1993. Local swan numbers have been depressed in the Sequim-Dungeness Valley throughout 2023 and 2024. Some duck numbers, like Green-winged Teal, were much reduced compared with recent SDCBCs. Could some of these changes have been due to avian flu?  We don’t know.

It’s interesting to note that all of the species with lower numbers this year are non-passerines, whereas most of the species with higher numbers are passerines such as chickadees, nuthatches, and sparrows. We’ve been told that avian flu does not seem to affect songbirds, such as the ones that come to our feeders. We certainly can’t say for sure, but the pattern seems to fit.

Lastly, we missed a number of species that we’ve grown somewhat accustom to finding most years.  These species include Greater White-fronted Goose, Snow Goose, Wood Duck, Yellow-billed Loon, Black Oystercatcher, Marbled Godwit, and Swamp Sparrow. The geese and shorebirds were here earlier this fall, but disappeared well before the CBC. Yellow-billed Loon is particularly concerning, because it was last missed in 2010. We’ve come to think of YB Loon as a reliable species in the offshore waters between Protection Island and Dungeness Spit, but even though our wonderful offshore boat party searched that area very closely, no YB Loons this year.       

Yellow-billed Loon near Protection Island - Photo by Bob Boekelheide

The new year is upon us, so it’s time to go find some birds. Don’t forget to mark your calendars -- the 2025 Sequim-Dungeness CBC will occur on Monday, December 15, 2025. Next year will be the 50th SDCBC, time to celebrate the birds.

Special thanks to organizations allowing access to their properties for the count: Dungeness Farms, Mark Burrows, Graysmarsh, Nash’s Organic Vegetables, Quacker Farms, Sequim Valley Ranch, WA Maritime National Wildlife Refuges, and Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe.

And many thanks to our Christmas Count participants:

Dungeness Spit: Jamie Acker, James Halsh, Sue Nattinger, Kari Williamson, Coleman Byrnes, John Bowie (Permission of USFWS and JST). Dungeness Rec. Area: Ken Wiersema, Dow Lambert, Alex Ayoub, Stacey Hollis, Darcy Stumbaugh, Katja Bridwell. West Dungeness: Liam Hutcheson, Alexander Sowers, Ed & Myra Koszykowski, Denny Van Horn, Barb Boekelheide. Three Crabs: Scott Gremel, Mandy Holmgren, Eric Guzman, Melissa Marshall, Tom Butler, Dave Manson, Lee Bowen, Kaye Edmiston, Shelly Ament (Permission of Dungeness Farms & Habitat and the Willits family). Jamestown: Dan, Brad, and Kevin Waggoner (Permission of Seashore Lane). Graysmarsh: Bob Boekelheide, Tom Murphy, Tristan Coonts (Permission of Graysmarsh). Port Williams, Washington Harbor: Roger Hoffman, Richard & Liz Klawitter (Permi. West Sequim Bay: Steve Hampton, Barry McKenzie, Ali Kasperzak, Bruce & Carol Von Borstel. East Sequim Bay: Judy Mullally, Susan Savage, Bob Blush, Katherine & Otis Bush. Miller Peninsula State Park: Powell Jones, Greg Voyles. Diamond Point, Gardiner: John Gatchet, Bob Bagwell, David Durham. Offshore boat: Durkee Richards, Bruce LaBar, Marcus Roening, Heather Ballash, Wayne Sladek. Chicken Coop: Robin Corcoran, Jeff Lewis, Ann Sibole. Palo Alto Rd, Woods Rd: Kathy & Matt McCoy, Rebecca Atherton, Valerie Wolcott. Upper Palo Alto area, USFS - Karen Holtrop, Betsy Howell, & Alison Center. Burnt Hill - John Bridge, Virginia O'Neil, Matt Farr. South Sequim - Joyce Volmut, Steve Graham, Rhonda Coats. Happy Valley, Simdars - Patrick & Karla Terbilcox, Mike Hovis, Tom Snetsinger & Christina Herrmann. Fish Hatchery, Taylor Cutoff - Norrie & Barb Johnson, Quenn Charrier, Gillian Kenagy, Rachel Smith. Parkwood - Ida Domazlicky, Jane Nicholas. Lost Mtn - Mary Morgan, Tim McNulty, Randy Larson, Dave Shreffler. Atterberry, Robin Hill Park - Heidi Pedersen, Barb Blackie. McDonnell Creek - Tom Guobis, Joan McDermott, Barbara Vanderwerf, Sally Bird. Blue Ribbon Farms - Laura Davis, Alan Smith, Pat Schoen. Carlsborg - Marie Grad, Kathy Steichen & Linda Stoneback, Dave LeRoux, Gailen Steichen, Dave Swinford, Joodie Klinke. West of Dungeness River: Steve Koehler, Sharle Osborne, Skip & Caroline Perkins. Joy Bertman, Stacey Embree, Jolene Sanborn. Sequim & vicinity: Ben Hannah, Dan Froelich, Carter Urnes, Helen Pilch, Doris Causey, Anne Burkhardt, Gary Bullock. East of Dungeness River: Enid & Bob Phreaner, Ken & Mary Campbell, Kevin Froese, Kathy Cooper, Rick Rodlend. Sunland: Ron Wight. Dungeness Schoolhouse, Towne Rd, Kirner: Marion Rutledge, Stacey Fradkin, Patty Giffen, Ann Skillman, Michael Barry, Vince Thrutchley. Railroad Bridge Park: Ed Stege, Kathy Jenkins, Siri Forsman-Sims, Frank Lowenstein, Steve Graham. Swans: Liam Antrim, Pam Maurides, Vicki Swann, Joe Sanders, Sue & Don Dryden, Dee Renee Ericks. If I forgot anyone, please accept my apologies.