The 116th CBC in North Carolina consisted of 49 counts; four (Henderson County, Holly Shelter, Lake Lure; Camp LeJeune) were not conducted or reported. Temperatures were considerably above average across the state with 19 counts having highs in the 60’s and 11 of those with highs in the 70’s! The only snowfall reported was brief light snow in the afternoon on the Falls Lake count. Grandfather Mountain, not surprisingly, was the only count that had any measurable snow cover (.1”-.3”)! Heavy rain was a problem on only two counts (Cumberland County and Pettigrew S.P.) and high winds made counting difficult at Bodie-Pea Islands and Kitty Hawk. During this year’s count 796,959 individuals of 222 species, one form, and five count-week birds were reported. Top coastal species totals included Wilmington’s 162, Southport's 160, Morehead City’s 155, and Bodie-Pea's 143. Tidewater counts were led by Lake Mattamuskeet’s 131, Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge’s (ARNWR) 109, New Bern’s 106, Pettigrew’s 102, and Pamlico County’s 101. Coastal Plain counts were led by Greenville with 106, Roanoke Rapids with 89, Rocky Mount with 87, and Cumberland County with 85. Leading Piedmont counts had totals of 101 at Kerr Lake, 99 at Charlotte and Raleigh, 96 at Southern Lake Norman, and 95 at Southern Pines. Mountains counts were led by Brevard’s 72, with Balsam, Buncombe County, and Franklin next at 65.
No doubt owing to the very mild fall and above average warm count season, waterfowl numbers were way down practically across the board. White goose numbers were definitely down, as were Brant. Numbers of Tundra Swans were up slightly, continuing the trend of the last decade. Two Trumpeter Swans were well described and photographed at Lake Mattamuskeet. These birds provided firsts for the NC CBC and interestingly were just a part of 3-4 Trumpeters found at that refuge this year! Puddle duck numbers were down across all species. Diving duck numbers were down also, except for two species – Redhead increasing substantially and Ring-necked Duck slightly. Northern Bobwhites once again declined with a total of only 20 birds being reported from all the Counts! One Pacific Loon was found, again from the large Common Loon flock off Wrightsville Beach on the Wilmington count. Grebe numbers were way down this year, but two Red-neckeds (Raleigh and Cape Hatteras) and one count-week Eared (Cape Hatteras) were noted. Providing the 5th CBC report of shearwater sp. was two seen from shore on the Bodie-Pea Islands count. They were small black and white shearwaters, most likely Manx. American White Pelicans made a strong showing with a record count of 179 (172 at Bodie-Pea and 7 at Mattamuskeet)! Long-legged wader numbers were mostly average or somewhat down. Of interest was the mind-boggling record count of 266 Cattle Egrets on the Lake Mattamuskeet count! Three Green Herons were noted with singles at Kitty Hawk, Southport, and inland at Charlotte, which was very rare that far away from the coast. Only two Glossy Ibis were found at Mattamuskeet this season, way down from previous counts. Bird of prey numbers were mostly average, and the only highlight was the Swainson’s Hawk found on the ARNWR Count, for the 4th NC CBC record (all from that Refuge). Only one Sandhill Crane was reported, on the Central Beaufort County Count. Shorebird numbers were generally down with only 19 Piping Plovers on two counts, 59 Red Knots on three counts, 52 Least Sandpipers on six counts, and only one Long-billed Dowitcher on the Southport count! Southport once again had all the jaegers with one Pomarine and nine Parasitics. Also the only Razorbills (3) noted were on the Southport Count. Bonaparte’s Gulls were in short supply this count season, with most of the birds noted on inland counts, not coastal ones! The Cape Hatteras count had one each of Iceland and Glaucous gull, the only ones found this season. A Sandwich Tern was a very good find for the Morehead City count, this species usually has left the central coast by late November.
Eurasian Collared-Dove continued to increase with 300 being found on ten counts. Of interest is the impressive total of 152 at Ocracoke this year! And a White-winged Dove on the Kitty Hawk count provided the 8th NC CBC record. Only two Short-eared Owls were noted with singles on the Southport and Bodie-Pea counts. No Northern Saw-whet Owls were found this year, obviously a down year for that species this far south. Wintering Ruby-throated Hummingbird numbers were up this year, while only one Selasphorus sp. was at Charlotte and one Rufous was count-week at Southern Pines. After last season’s dearth of flycatcher reports, they made news this year! The most intriguing one was the Empidonax sp. found on the Wilmington Count. The bird was initially identified as a Least due to calls, but there were enough physical characteristics that were not conclusively in the Least camp. Bill structure and primary extension seemed to lean toward one of the western Empids. Ash-throated Flycatchers were noted at Kitty Hawk and ARNWR while three Western Kingbirds were together on the Pettigrew Count. Lingering swallows included single Barn Swallows at Morehead City and Southport, and eight Cave Swallows with one at Mattamuskeet, two at Bodie-Pea, and five at Wilmington. Red-breasted Nuthatches were still in much reduced numbers from the major flight of three years ago, with only 39 from 14 counts. Wren and kinglet numbers were down, as were Blue-gray Gnatcatchers. Hermit Thrush numbers were noticeably down this season, as were American Pipits. No Lapland Longspurs or Snow Buntings were noted this season. Warbler highlights this count season included three Nashville Warblers with singles at Wilmington, Pettigrew, and Winston-Salem – very unusual that far away from the Coast; and a Cape May Warbler on the Southern Lake Norman Count, providing the 10th NC CBC record. Sparrow highlights included a Lark Sparrow at Wrightsville Beach on the Wilmington Count, and two Clay-colored Sparrows with singles at Wilmington and Greenville. Interestingly Savannah Sparrows and Lincoln’s Sparrows were way down (half of last year) in numbers. The Wilmington Summer Tanager returned for its 8th winter! Wintering Painted Bunting numbers rebounded slightly from last year with the most unusual being singles at Kitty Hawk and somewhat inland at Pettigrew. A count-week Blue Grosbeak at Greenville provided only the 9th NC Christmas Count report. Undoubtedly the rarest bird of the 116th CBC in NC was the Bobolink well described on the Greenville Count. This species is normally far south of the US in December, and there is one previous NC CBC report of 30 birds in 1957 – most assuredly a misidentification! Rusty Blackbird numbers were up somewhat with the best total being 626 at Rocky Mount. Five Brewer’s Blackbirds were good finds on the Mattamuskeet count. Baltimore Oriole numbers were up from last year and the best counts included 23 at Wilmington, 20 at Rocky Mount, and 17 at Charlotte. Finch numbers were down this winter. Purple Finches (63 on 17 counts) and Pine Siskins (343 on 22 counts) numbers made them harder to find than last year. Ten Red Crossbills on the Balsam Count were noteworthy as they were the only ones reported. And once again Evening Grosbeaks were nowhere to be found during the NC CBC this season.