2019 CBC Summary

2019 Skagway CBC -- Saturday, 14 December

Summary

Skagway count day was a mild mid-December day with a high of 40F. This following a very warm autumn, and a record-breaking hot summer. It was a generally cloudy, with some light winds of 5-10mph out of the south. There was no precipitation during the day. Snowpack at the pass was about 2 feet, while at sea level many areas had melted out or had only 1-2 inches left. In the sheltered wooded areas of Dyea enough snow remained that we had one field observer on skis. Still and moving waters were mostly unfrozen.

On count day, 8 routes were covered by 14 field observers, including 2 birders from Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. Seven (7) feeders were watched by 8 people, some of whom also did routes. The total number of participants on count day was 19.

Thirty-two (32) species were recorded on count day. Three (3) additional species were recorded during count week. The total number of individual birds seen on count day was 1,274.

Contrary to last year, we had good showings of winter flocks, including Bohemian Waxwings, Pine Siskins, Redpoll sp., Pine Grossbeaks, and a flock of 12 Red Crossbills that was flagged as a high count.

Overwintering Northwestern Crows were abundant, with 98 seen this year and flagged as a high count. The small resident flock of Eurasian Collared-Doves seems stable at 9 individuals, one of which was a juvenile.

We were also pleased to have 3 types of hawk: Merlin on count day, and Northern Goshawk and Sharp-shinned Hawk during count week.

- Elaine

--- view or download a PDF file of any specific year's results from 2003 to present: results by year

--- view or download a PDF file of multiyear summaries of Skagway CBCs: CBC multi-year results by decade