January 4th started out with heavy fog, making birding almost impossible in the until about 9:30 or 10 a.m. Despite the reduced view time, the 11 birders on the Audubon’s winter bird count spotted 74 species of birds on Dewees. Members of the Dewees Community on the count, included Lori Sheridan-Wilson, Judy Drew Fairchild, Reggie Fairchild, Ted Fairchild, Bob Drew and Connie Drew. Special thanks to the members of the Audubon Society who attended the bird count: Cathy Miller, Aaron Given, Karl, Ed, and Kenneth.
The loggerhead shrike and the horned grebe were perhaps the two most exciting birds seen by the group. Below are the results of the count:
Species Number Seen on Dewees
American Wigeon 6
Mottled Duck 6
Bufflehead 40
Hooded Merganser 12
Common Loon 10
Pied-billed Grebe 11
Horned Grebe 1
Brown Pelican 24
Double-crested Cormorant 55
Anhinga 1
Great Blue Heron 20
Great Egret 35
Snowy Egret 15
Little Blue Heron 7
Tricolored Heron 5
Black-crowned Night-Heron 13
White Ibis 1
Wood Stork 1
Osprey 1
Bald Eagle 1
Northern Harrier 5
Sharp-shinned Hawk 2
Cooper’s Hawk 2
Red-tailed Hawk 3
Clapper Rail 20
Sora 1
Common Moorhen 3
Black-bellied Plover 51
Semipalmated Plover 55
Killdeer 8
American Oystercatcher 7
Greater Yellowlegs 25
Willet 18
Ruddy Turnstone 8
Sanderling 12
Western Sandpiper 140
Least Sandpiper 33
Dunlin 190
Short-billed Dowitcher 235
Laughing Gull 8
Ring-billed Gull 20
Herring Gull 3
Forster’s Tern 26
Mourning Dove 23
Common Ground-Dove 7
Eastern Screech-Owl 2
Great Horned Owl 1
Belted Kingfisher 6
Northern Flicker 15
Eastern Phoebe 1
Loggerhead Shrike 1
Blue Jay 18
Carolina Wren 11
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 35
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
Hermit Thrush 3
Gray Catbird 2
Northern Mockingbird 7
Brown Thrasher 1
Orange-crowned Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 826
Palm Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 10
Eastern Towhee 10
Savannah Sparrow 14
Song Sparrow 38
Swamp Sparrow 2
Northern Cardinal 50
Red-winged Blackbird 140
Eastern Meadowlark 4
Boat-tailed Grackle 7
House Finch 1
House Sparrow 1