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13th ANNUAL YORK/ROCK HILL
CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT (2003)

All text & photos © Hilton Pond Center

The hatch-year female Rufous Hummingbird, (above) banded on 5 Dec 2003 has been seen nearly every day since at Rock Hill SC--including during the York/Rock Hill Christmas Bird Count on 20 Dec.

The 13th annual York/Rock Hill Christmas Bird Count (CBC)--sponsored locally by Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History--began before dawn on 20 December 2003, when the thermometer measured a brisk 26 degrees and skies were cloudless. A record high number of participants--nine--joined in tallying birds in the 15-mile diameter count circle, which stretches from the western edge of York to the east side of Rock Hill in the east and includes Hilton Pond Center. This year's counters included veterans Faye Metzl and Bob Olson (9 years each), Susan Holland (7 years), Carolyn (4 years) and Emile Russett (3 years), Jim Stewart (2 years), and compiler Bill Hilton Jr. (13 years), plus newcomers Bev Jones and Gail Driscoll. Dave Callopy, homebound by babysitting duties, tallied the birds at his backyard feeder.

During 11 hours, participants visited promising habitats by car or on foot and counted all the birds they could see or hear. In all, they recorded 3,934 individuals--the third lowest total ever and well below the 13-year average of 6,619 birds; the all-time high of 12,945 was set in 1994, when the region was invaded by large numbers of American Robins and Cedar Waxwings. The 2003 species total of 71 exceeded the long-term average of 65 and tied the total for the preceding two years, but was below the all-time high of 80 set in 2000. Approximately 125 species might reasonably be expected in York County, and 105 of those have been recorded on local CBCs through the years.

Highlights of the 2003 count include an adult Bald Eagle seen at the Catawba River, a nice flock of 150 Red-winged Blackbirds foraging on Sweetgum seeds at Hilton Pond Center, an unexpectedly large assemblage of 46 Wild Turkeys near SC 274, and a Rufous Hummingbird for which one observer (Hilton) had to stand by for more than two chilly hours before it finally appeared at a Rock Hill feeder near dusk--just in time for a photo (above). Thanks to homeowner Lenore Berry for the hot chocolate as we waited.

Record highs were set for several species in 2003, with 11 Horned Grebes (old record was four), two Cooper's Hawks (1), and the 46 Wild Turkeys (10). Although only one Eastern Screech-Owl and one Rufous Hummingbird were recorded, they still tied the record for those two species. Noticeably absent were several waterfowl and woodpecker species, while Turkey Vultures, Black Vultures, and Ring-billed Gulls continue to decline since the elimination of open garbage dumping at the York County landfill in the mid-1990s. We continue to be amazed that over the York/Rock Hill count's 12-year history we have never spotted a Northern Bobwhite.

Note should be made that four suspicious blackbirds were observed on a wire near Newport. Although reported as Brewer's Blackbirds, these four were more likely Rusty Blackbirds. The former is exceedingly rare in the Carolina Piedmont in midwinter, while the latter are fairly common. In the absence of photos or other documentation, the count compiler regretfully chooses to list these birds as "Blackbird species."

One other even rarer species--Ross's Goose--was reportedly seen at the Winthrop College Farm pond in Rock Hill during the week preceding the count, but the two individuals were not present on count day.

If you're interested in helping survey and learn about Piedmont birds, our count is always the Saturday before Christmas (unless that day is Christmas Eve), so get out next year's calendar and pencil it in for 18 December 2004. Maybe you'll be the person that spots that elusive bobwhite quail at Hilton Pond Center or finds another rare species within the territory that makes up the York/Rock Hill Christmas Bird Count.