Midtown Parks Winter Bird Count - Fourth Year

A late-December bird count was done once again in two midtown Omaha parks. This mid-winter survey was first done in 2008, on either the 28th or 29th of the month. A similar, partial count was first done in 2005.

The area covered is Memorial Park and Elmwood Park. A similar walking route has been followed. Within the count area the following named locales were visited in the past year, and reflect a similar path for many surveys within these parks, though additional sites may or might not get included.

• Happy Hollow Creek;
• Elmwood Park Ravine;
• Shadow Lake, Elmwood Park;
• Wood Creek, Elmwood Park;
• Elmwood Park Meadow;
• Elmwood Park Pines;
• Wood Creek, Memorial Park; and
• Memorial Park.

Having records for a variety of places allows a greater precision in denoting where a species occurs, and provides an indication of distribution with the count area.

In 2011, the weather was moderate, with a temperature of 45^o when the foray was started later in the morning . There was no wind and no snow on the ground. There was no ice present on any of the creeks or at Shadow Lake. Conditions had been unseasonably warm - with peak temperatures in the upper 40s or lower 50s - for several days prior.

The number of species counted in each year have been: 2008: 18; 2009: 10; 2010: 16; and, 2011: 20.

Overall, there have been 28 different species recorded during the four years, as shown in the following summary:

Common Name	2008	2009	2010	2011
Mallard	21	46	30	20
Cooper's Hawk	- -	- -	- -	1
Red-tailed Hawk	- -	- -	1	- -
Mourning Dove	6	- -	- -	- -
Red-bellied Woodpecker	1	1	1	- -
Downy Woodpecker	4	2	4	4
Hairy Woodpecker	- -	- -	- -	1
Northern Flicker	- -	- -	1	1
Blue Jay	1	- -	3	1
American Crow	5	4	1	- -
Black-capped Chickadee	4	4	14	21
Red-breasted Nuthatch	- -	- -	2	- -
White-breasted Nuthatch	3	2	5	5
Brown Creeper	1	- -	- -	1
Carolina Wren	- -	- -	- -	1
Winter Wren	2	- -	- -	1
Golden-crowned Kinglet	- -	2	- -	- -
American Robin	61	19	44	32
European Starling	2	- -	26	12
Fox Sparrow	- -	- -	- -	2
Song Sparrow	1	- -	- -	- -
Harris's Sparrow	- -	- -	- -	3
Dark-eyed Junco	30	- -	14	30
Northern Cardinal	5	1	4	3
House Finch	- -	- -	- -	2
Pine Siskin	2	- -	- -	- -
American Goldfinch	4	1	2	6
House Sparrow	5	- -	3	5

The highlight for the 2011 count was the addition of some previously unrecorded species.

A Cooper's Hawk was flushed from Wood Creek in Memorial Park, just after it had finished taking a bath in its unfrozen flows. An expressive Hairy Woodpecker could not be ignored in the subtle woods of the Elmwood Park Ravine. Nearby, a Downy Woodpecker made a lesser but less significant expression of occurrence on the bark of a tree. And then a Brown Creeper a few meters distant. The results were obvious!

A Carolina Wren was seen, though not heard, along Wood Creek, just eastward of the Wood Creek Pond. This fine bird had been noted during the final days of 2010 at Shadow Lake, and then were mostly gone thereafter following snows which became deep upon the ground.

Also along lower Wood Creek, two Fox Sparrow were readily seen, scratching among the woodland duff, resplendent in their four-colored plumage. This is the first occurrence ever recorded for this species during this period in winter at these two parks. Their presence has been appreciated at other times of the year.

Harris's Sparrows were foraging on the ground at the Rose Garden. This is another significant ornithological event. These boisterous sparrows have never been previously noted for this time of the year at either park.>

And to think that there was some uncertainty about doing the multi-hour walk-about required to catch a glimpse — with occasionally a bit of a better or longer view — of each resident avian species.

Some juncos, pervasive in their winter ways, were nearby.

House Finches were along Happy Hollow Creek, one of their usual haunts in the neighborhood.

A nice flock of Mallards were enjoying Shadow Lake, though their ongoing presence meant there was little or no pondweed remaining. No Winter Wren was about, though this place had been a normal haven during other winter visits, and the vivid chirp of this feathered mite is certainly missed.

An impressive number of Black-capped Chickadees were noted. The 2011 count of 21 is the largest of the four years, as these cheerful little birds were profoundly expressive during the day, and seen nearly everywhere traversed. This is also the same high value ever known during a survey of the same area, with 21 on 25 October 2009 and twenty on 20 December 2010.

Elsewhere in the neighborhood, on the 2011 winter-count day, were the American Crow and Golden-crowned Kinglet.

The value of multiple counts for the same locality is obvious in these results. No more than twenty species have been observed during one instance, yet, overall, there are 28 known species.

Particular reasons why these species are present would be related to weather, habitat and a source of food, in simplistic and humanistic terms. Understanding this seasonal occurrence might be better understood if sublime details among the subtle variables birds convey would be vividly and consisently conveyed for any season. And could be learned by a twitcher.