2022 CBC Summary

2022 Skagway CBC -- Saturday, 17 December

Summary

Our CBC this year was crisp and sunny, with clear skies and brisk winds. In open areas, the gusts could be forceful, encouraging birds and humans to stay in areas sheltered from the north wind. One field observer drove up Klondike Highway to the pass - this was our only high elevation visit.

Temperatures ranged from 5 to 14F at sea level, with -1F reported at the pass. At sea level, most open areas were snow free. At high elevation, non-drift snowpack was about 15 inches. Both still and moving waters were open but partly frozen.

Eight (8) routes were covered by 9 field observers. Unfortunately, none of our Canadian birders made the CBC this year. Routes were covered by car or walking. Six (6) feeders were watched by 6 observers. There were some participants who did more than one route, or a route and a feeder. Our overall participation was 13 people on count day.

Three (3) routes and 1 feeder turned up a grand total of zero birds, special thanks to those who persevered without the positive feedback of bird sightings!

Seventeen (17) bird species were seen on count day. Count week gave us 4 more species: American Crow, Bald Eagle, American Robin and Song Sparrow. A Glaucous-winged x Herring Gull was the only hybrid species reported. The total number of individual birds seen on count day came to 511.

Similar to last year, 17 Pine Grosbeaks were seen in one small flock, but different from last year there were no observations of larger numbers before or after the count. Zero Eurasian-collared Dove were seen on count day, but they were commonly sighted during the summer.

For the first time since we started this circle, zero Marbled Murrelets were seen. These birds seem impervious to weather conditions, and we had good coverage of the near-shore waters where they are usually found. This follows an unusual summer with very low Marbled Murrelet sightings..

We had 3 rare birds, all reported from the Skagway town area at feeders: Rusty Blackbird, Brambling and House Sparrow. The Brambling had been hanging around town since early November, a number of photos are at SBC 2022 web album .

- Elaine

Species table, participants list, and links to data are below photos.