The 2013 Christmas Bird Count was held Jan. 4 on the Vineyard and tallied 16,349 individuals and 119 species. The day’s count follows:

Oystercatcher sitting pretty on the beach. — Lanny McDowell

Individuals:

Brant, 113; Canada goose, 1,400; mute swan, 84; gadwall, 35; Eurasian wigeon, 2; American wigeon, 44; American black duck, 450; mallard, 850; northern pintail, 9; green-winged teal, 6; ring-necked duck, 6; greater scaup, 650; lesser scaup, 22; scaup species, 104; common eider, 1,750; harlequin duck, 64; surf scoter, 470; white-winged scoter, 190; black scoter, 250; scoter species, 100; long-tailed duck, 182; bufflehead, 1,260; common goldeneye, 366; hooded merganser, 319; common merganser, 10; red-breasted merganser, 300; ruddy duck, 124; wild turkey, 21; red-throated loon, 17; common loon, 150; pied-billed grebe, 2; horned grebe, 49; red-necked grebe, 2; northern gannet, 1; double-crested cormorant, ___4; great cormorant, 35; great blue heron, 16; black-crowned night heron, 4; turkey vulture, 25; bald eagle, 1; northern harrier, 11; sharp-shinned hawk, 3; Cooper’s hawk, 5; small accipiter, 1; red-tailed hawk, 49; American kestrel, 1; merlin, 5; peregrine falcon, 1; American coot, 1; black-bellied plover, 25; ruddy turnstone, 1; sanderling, 210; purple sandpiper, 23; dunlin, 28; Bonaparte’s gull, 3; ring-billed gull, 98; herring gull, 490; Iceland gull, 1; lesser black-backed gull, 1; great black-backed gull, 100; black-legged kittiwake, 5; dovekie, 2; razorbill, 51; murre species, 1; rock pigeon, 270; mourning dove, 340.

Hooded mergansers in flight count too. — Lanny McDowell

Barn owl, 8; eastern screech-owls, 3; great horned owl, CW; snowy owl, 10; short-eared owl, 1; belted kingfisher, 6; red-bellied woodpecker, 47; yellow-bellied sapsucker, 2; downy woodpecker, 73; hairy woodpecker, 22; northern flicker, 34; eastern phoebe, CW; northern shrike, 2; blue jay, 310; American crow, 530; fish crow, 5; horned lark, 22; tree swallow, 12; black-capped chickadee, 660; tufted titmouse, 112; red-breasted nuthatch, 2; white-breasted nuthatch, 83; brown creeper, 3; Carolina wren, 100; winter wren, 1; golden-crowned kinglet, 15; eastern bluebird, 46; hermit thrush, 8; American robin, 420; gray catbird, 17; northern mockingbird, 30; brown thrasher, 1; European starling, 430; American pipit, 4; cedar waxwing, 56; yellow-rumped warbler, 111; pine warbler, CW; yellow-breasted chat, 1; eastern towhee, 12; American tree sparrow, 13; chipping sparrow, 3; clay-colored sparrow, 1; field sparrow, 9; savannah sparrow, 38; Ipswich sparrow, 5; fox sparrow, 5; song sparrow, 359; swamp sparrow, 24; white-throated sparrow, 226; dark-eyed junco, 226; lapland longspur, 2; snow bunting, 82; northern cardinal, 260; red-winged blackbird, 25; eastern meadowlark, 6; common grackle, 6; brown-headed cowbird, 1; house finch, 169; American goldfinch, 182; house sparrow, 473.

Total Individuals Seen:
16,527

Number of Species Seen:
119

Count Week Species:
3

Additional Subspecies:
1

This year’s count required team effort. A total of 47 team participants put in a total of 95.75 party hours, with 40.5 hours on foot and 55.5 hours in cars. They traveled 28.5 miles on foot and covered 369.1 miles by car. They spent 5.25 owling hours and covered 26.25 owling miles. There were 18 feeder participants who clocked 85 total feeder hours.