New birds seen during Christmas Bird Count

NORTH LIBERTY -- A couple of new birds showed up last weekend in the Iowa City Bird Club's annual participation in the Audubon Christmas Bird Count, but local birding enthusiasts were not particularly surprised to see them.

Club members, for the first time in their 60 years of participation in the 111-year-old annual count, found trumpeter swans and Eurasian collared-doves.

With the state's increasing population of trumpeters, spurred by a successful reintroduction program, it was inevitable that club members finally find some, said long-time count participant Rick Hollis of North Liberty. The pair of swans were spotted Sunday, Dec. 19, 2010, in open water of the Iowa River at Crandic Park in Iowa City.

“This is one of the deadest counts I have ever participated in,” said Hollis, who led a three-man crew along upper portions of Coralville Lake. Because the lake was frozen, the waterfowl that usually make up a large cohort of the group's count were totally absent on Sunday.

For Hollis, the highlights included six robins, three bluebirds, one winter wren and oven-warm cookies delivered by a sympathetic resident.

As for the Eurasian collared-doves, a rapidly expanding immigrant that crossed from the West Indies into Florida about a decade ago, "we've been expecting to find this species on the count as they've been present in Solon for several years," said Chris Edwards of Iowa City, who compiles the annual count statistics.

In Iowa, he said, they are usually found in small towns, especially where they can feed on grain spilled around elevators.

"So far, there doesn't seem to be any evidence that they are displacing mourning doves or any other native species," Edwards said.

The Cedar Rapids Audubon Society, which conducted its Cedar Rapids-area 2010 Christmas count on Saturday, Dec. 18, 2010, has yet to count a Eurasian collared-dove, according to Jim Durbin of Marion, who tracks the statistics.

The club has recorded the birds near a grain elevator in Alburnett during its northern Linn County count, which this year is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2010, Durbin said.

Last weekend's Cedar Rapids count yielded about 52 different species, which compares with 65 species counted by the Iowa City club. Both figures are close to their 10-year averages.

One species on the delcine in both areas is the ringnecked pheasant. The Cedar Rapids club recorded two, which comapres with its 10-year-average of 32, and the Iowa City club recorded three,  the same number as in the preceding count but down dramatically from the club's record high of 141 in 2005.

Winter waterfowl have been harder to find in Cedar Rapids since 2008, when floodwaters destroyed Alliant Energy's Sixth Street Generating Plant.

The plant discharged warm water into Cedar Lake, keeping it largely free of ice during most winters, providing a refuge for the two most commonly found bird species during the Christmas Bird Count – Canada geese and mallards.

During the past decade, the 10 most commonly counted species in Iowa City have been (in descending order) Canada goose, European starling, mallard, house sparrow, American crow, dark-eyed junco, northern cardinal, mourning dove, black-capped chickadee and blue jay.

In Cedar Rapids, the top six species are the same, though in a slightly different order, and the rock pigeon and the ring-billed gull come in at number 7 and 8, pushing the chickadee and the blue jay farther down the list.