As we have a 2nd blitz on the 3rd October at the North, West and East Shoal Lakes IBA it is effectively halftime. Now everyone has been able to submit their complete checklists for the day I thought it would be fun to post the numbers of birds counted on August 29th. So here goes:

SPECIES	TOTAL
Canada Goose	535
Cackling/Canada Goose	5
Trumpeter Swan	2
Wood Duck	8
Gadwall	52
American Wigeon	24
American Black Duck	2
Mallard	866
Blue-winged Teal	1024
Northern Shoveler	107
Northern Pintail	94
Green-winged Teal	57
teal sp. (Anas sp. (teal sp.))	44
dabbling duck sp. (Anas sp.)	7
Canvasback	114
Redhead	97
Ring-necked Duck	73
Lesser Scaup	6
White-winged Scoter	8
Scoter sp	6
Bufflehead	12
Common Goldeneye	90
Hooded Merganser	26
Ruddy Duck	45
duck sp. (Anatinae sp.)	153
Pied-billed Grebe	183
Red-necked Grebe	53
Double-crested Cormorant	105
American White Pelican	183
Least Bittern	1
American Bittern	11
Great Blue Heron	23
Great Egret	96
Black-crowned Night-Heron	2
Turkey Vulture	1
Northern Harrier	29
Sharp-shinned Hawk	2
Cooper’s Hawk	2
Bald Eagle	55
Red-tailed Hawk	10
Yellow Rail	1
Virginia Rail	25
Sora	94
American Coot	1282
Sandhill Crane	41
Semipalmated Plover	43
Killdeer	91
Spotted Sandpiper	2
Solitary Sandpiper	3
Greater Yellowlegs	227
Willet	3
Lesser Yellowlegs	124
Greater/Lesser Yellowlegs	2
Marbled Godwit	4
Stilt Sandpiper	10
Baird’s Sandpiper	9
Least Sandpiper	9
Pectoral Sandpiper	5
Semipalmated Sandpiper	14
peep sp. (Calidris sp. (peep sp.)	5
Long-billed Dowitcher	1
Wilson’s Snipe	51
Red-necked Phalarope	2
shorebird sp. (Charadriiformes sp.)	15
Bonaparte’s Gull	227
Franklin’s Gull	1
Ring-billed Gull	155
Herring Gull	5
gull sp. (Larinae sp.)	10
Caspian Tern	18
Black Tern	57
Common Tern	105
Forster’s Tern	266
tern sp. (Sterninae sp.)	5
Mourning Dove	5
Ruby-throated Hummingbird	3
Belted Kingfisher	15
Red-headed Woodpecker	3
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	2
Downy Woodpecker	7
Hairy Woodpecker	4
Northern Flicker	34
Pileated Woodpecker	3
American Kestrel	7
Merlin	10
Eastern Wood-Pewee	3
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher	1
Least Flycatcher	11
Eastern Phoebe	7
Great Crested Flycatcher	3
Eastern kingbird	6
Yellow-throated Vireo	4
Warbling Vireo	5
Red-eyed Vireo	9
Philadelphia Vireo	1
Blue Jay	11
Black-billed Magpie	12
American Crow	17
Common Raven	35
Tree Swallow	23
Barn Swallow	258
Black-capped Chickadee	27
White-breasted Nuthatch	4
House Wren	3
Sedge Wren	6
Marsh Wren	125
Eastern Bluebird	7
American Robin	14
Gray Catbird	16
European Starling	127
American Pipit	1
Cedar Waxwing	59
Bohemian/Cedar Waxwing	1
Northern Waterthrush	56
Black-and-white Warbler	3
Tennessee Warbler	13
Nashville Warbler	2
Common Yellowthroat	111
American Redstart	8
Magnolia Warbler	1
Yellow Warbler	16
Chestnut-sided Warbler	1
Palm Warbler	1
Yellow-rumped Warbler	3
Wilson’s Warbler	1
Chipping Sparrow	4
Clay-colored Sparrow	17
Vesper Sparrow	5
White-throated Sparrow	5
Savannah Sparrow	35
Le Conte’s Sparrow	4
Song Sparrow	48
Swamp Sparrow	36
Rose-breasted Grosbeak	2
Red-winged Blackbird	168
Yellow-headed Blackbird	236
Common Grackle	25
Blackbird sp.	10
Baltimore Oriole	2
Purple Finch	2
American Goldfinch	47
TOTAL	8876

So there we go, after the 1st blitz, the most numerous species is the American Coot at 1282 individuals followed by Blue-winged Teal and the trusty Mallards and a total of 132 species. It will be interesting to see how numbers change next month. We would probably expect fewer species but with more sparrows and very few, if any warblers still around. Canada Goose might possibly be expected to be the most abundant species and the numbers of shorebirds will also likely have fallen. All will be revealed on this site after the blitz and we can compare the changes in species types and abundance then.

All in all something to look forward to on October 3rd!