30th ANNUAL YORK/ROCK HILL (SC)
CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center

Each winter--in cooperation with the National Audubon Society--Hilton Pond Center implements and compiles a Christmas Bird Count (CBC) for York/Rock Hill in York County, South Carolina (see map above). Christmas Bird Counts--perhaps the first big organized "citizen science" effort--originated 120 years ago as an alternative to traditional holiday bird hunts when folks young and old used newly gifted guns to see who could bring down the most birds. For that first counter-measure CBC in 1900, ornithologist Frank Chapman organized 25 counts of live birds from Toronto to Pacific Grove CA and involved 27 participants who tallied 89 combined species. That's a far cry from 2019 when 2,615 CBCs in the United States, Canada, Latin America , and Pacific Islands involved 79,425 participants who tallied more than 48 million birds, with 661 species in the U.S. alone!

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center

Hilton Pond Center started the York/Rock Hill count in 1991 to help provide a snapshot of numbers and species of early-winter birds present in east and central York County--in the heart of the Carolina Piedmont Region. Beginning at sunrise and finishing by dusk, participants identify and tally birds seen and/or heard in assigned sectors of an area inscribed by a standard circle 15 miles in diameter (see map above and aerial photo below). The circle is centered where Tools Fork Creek flows beneath the new bridge on SC Hwy 5 (West Main Street) just west of Northwestern High School. (Count-center coordinates are 34° 57' 23.57" N, 81º 06' 24.64" W; in decimal degrees that's N34.956547, W81.106844.)

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center

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The 30th annual York/Rock Hill count on 19 December 2020 was quite a bit different from previous years. With a pandemic in full swing, National Audubon laid down strict count protocols--one of which led us to cancel our pre-count and mid-day get-togethers with participants. We also felt obligated to restrict participation to our veteran counters; under self-isolating guidelines we saw no good and safe way to invite and instruct new participants. We're hopeful new COVID-19 vaccines will halt the spread of the novel coronavirus and allow us to to return to Christmas Bird Count norms in the winter of 2020-21.

This year we had five experienced participants, most of whom started the count at 6:30 a.m. and operated independently throughout the day. Helping out this year were founder/compiler Bill Hilton Jr. on his 30th York-Rock Hill count, plus veterans Bob Olson (23 local counts) and Tom Anderson (seven). Gretchen Locy and Cindy Stacy--both familiar with various sectors in the count circle--were on-hand for the first time. Everyone received sector assignments and other instructions via e-mail and submitted post-count data and photos of interesting sightings the same way.

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center
Pine Warbler photo above courtesy Cindy Stacy

It was bit chilly to start the day, with a sunrise temperature of 24° under clear skies and with slight wind from the north. (The count ended at dusk at a more comfortable 51°.) As is our tradition at Hilton Pond, we start our Christmas Count sector checklist by observing birds at feeders and elsewhere on the Center's 11 acres. We were pretty pleased with an early count of 29 species--until we got one-upped by Cindy Stacy, who had 33 species in her own York backyard! One was a brightly plumaged male Pine Warbler (above) posing on a fencepost. (CAVEAT: We would probably have been able to count even more species at Hilton Pond except in yet another nod to the very strange year of 2020 our septic tank line decided to back up right before the holidays and we had to spend part of count day knee-deep in organic matter with pick and shovel.)

Read on for our bird tallies and for info about several particular species encountered during the count period. Thanks to the participants who submitted their photos for inclusion in this summary write-up.

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center
Black-and-white Warbler photo above courtesy Gretchen Locy

Patrolling her assigned sectors, Gretchen Locy spotted and photographed several birds of interest, especially a Black-and-white Warbler (above) that was a new species for the count. After past participants looked for this winter warbler for 29 years, one finally showed up in 2020 on the greenhouse trail at the Winthrop College Farm in Rock Hill--raising our all-time species total for the York-Rock Hill CBC to 112.

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center
Blue-headed Vireo photo above courtesy Gretchen Locy

Also on the Winthrop greenhouse trail Gretchen documented a scarce Blue-headed Vireo (formerly Solitary Vireo)--only the fourth time for this species in three decades. Our most recent sightings were in 2005 when we had an all-time high of three individuals.

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center
White-throated Sparrow photo above courtesy Cindy Stacy

White-throated Sparrows (bright-morph individual above, as photographed by Cindy Stacy) are essentially guaranteed for the local Count. It's one of 22 species we've seen every year.

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center
Pied-billed Grebe photo above courtesy Bob Olson

One of the prime bird-spotting locales within the York-Rock Hill count circle is Lake Wylie, a 13,400-acre impoundment created by the dam at Rock Hill. The lake is the go-to place for seeing a Common Loon (one this year), Bonaparte's Gulls (a lower-than-average 20), and Pied-billed Grebes like our only one in 2020 (as photographed above by Bob Olson).

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center
Hermit Thrush photo above courtesy Cindy Stacy

Of all the so-called "spot-breasted thrushes," only the Hermit Thrush is around these parts to be counted on our York-Rock Hill Christmas Bird Count. Cindy Stacy saw the individual above foraging on the ground and bobbing its distinctive rusty tail.

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center

This was supposed to be an "irruption year" for winter finches that don't necessarily migrate south when cold weather arrives in Canada. We weren't disappointed when Pine Siskins showed up for only the second York-Rock Hill count in 30 years. The one above was coming to a water feature at Hilton Pond Center.

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center

Purple Finches are another irruptive finch that hasn't shown up every year for our York County count; this was only our 11th time since 1991, with five at feeders at Hilton Pond (adult male, above) and five elsewhere.

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One non-finch that often appears in irruptive winters is the Red-breasted Nuthatch; the 2020 count was only the sixth time for this species and set a new record with seven individuals. One male (above) and one female have been hanging around the Hilton Pond feeders since early October.

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center

Raptor numbers during our York-Rock Hill Christmas Bird Count have declined precipitously through the years. For example, ten Red-tailed Hawks (above, soaring over Hilton Pond Center) were well below the maximum of 23 set in 1991--the local count's first year. We've documented similar declines in Sharp-shinned Hawks, Northern Harriers, and American Kestrels.

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker photo above courtesy Cindy Stacy

The 30th count turned out to be a good one for woodpeckers such as the male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker photographed above by Cindy Stacy--one of 11 tallied this year. (NOTE Female sapsuckers have a white throat.) All seven of our woodpecker species were at or above average in 2020.

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center
Northern Flicker photo above courtesy Cindy Stacy

Cindy Stacy also photographed another woodpecker without that word in its name: Northern (formerly Yellow-shafted or Common) Flicker. In this ant-eating species the male has a black mustache, as above.

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center
Canada Goose photo above courtesy Gretchen Locy

The Canada Goose above (photographed at rest by Gretchen Locy) was one of 300 tallied on this year's count--a new record barely surpassing 296 from back in 1999. We feel quite certain this species will always be around for the York-Rock Hill count.

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center
Double-crested Cormorant photo above courtesy Gretchen Locy

There are a few exposed perches in the lake at the old Winthrop University Farm in Rock Hill. When water levels are low various birds can be found sunning and preening, as with these Double-crested Cormorants photographed by Gretchen Locy. We counted an above-average 79 of these fish-eating birds this year.

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center
Bald Eagle photo above courtesy Gretchen Locy

Finally, it's always a highlight when we spy Bald Eagles during our annual Christmas Count, even more so when we tally a record high of four as we did this year. Gretchen Locy's photo of two adults (above) was taken at the Rock Hill dam that forms Lake Wylie.

By day's end on 19 December 2020 the five York-Rock Hill Christmas Bird Count observers had tallied 2,084 individual birds from 68 species; our historical average for 30 counts is 4,265 birds and 63.1 species. We got one new species (described above) not seen in the previous 29 counts, and nine species at new record highs (see table at end of write-up). One species tied its high, 27 of 112 species seen since 1991 were above their average numbers, and 22 species have now been seen on every count.

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center

We have mixed thoughts about the 30th annual York-Rock Hill Christmas Bird Count. Yes, participants worked hard under unusual circumstances and we checked off one new species, with several others setting new highs. However, with every passing year the total number of individual birds has continued to decline in eastern and central York County as more and more natural areas are bulldozed and destroyed in the name of commercial and residential projects. Farms, native forests, scarce wetlands, and other diverse habitats needed by birds and other wildlife are disappearing at a rapid rate. Various York County entities have set aside a few green spaces such as River Park (above) and the planned Riverbend Park in Rock Hill, but it is essential we act now to secure even larger and contiguous parcels throughout the county if bird surveys 30 years from now expect to tally even the relatively low 68 species we had in 2020.

Please take time to peruse Table 1 below for a full accounting of the official results from our 2020 early winter bird survey. Then mark your calendar and join friends of Hilton Pond Center for the 31st annual York/Rock Hill Christmas Bird Count scheduled for Saturday, 18 December 2021--pandemic-free, we hope! No experience necessary, just binoculars and a desire to help get a more complete census of avifauna in eastern and central York County, South Carolina. If you'd like to participate in the 31st anniversary event or have questions about our most recent or other past counts, please contact the compiler at RESEARCH.

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center

Photoshop image post-processing uses DeNoise AI, Sharpen AI , and other Topaz Lab tools

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center

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PAYPAL:
Payable to: funding@hiltonpond.org

Checks also can be sent to Hilton Pond Center at:
1432 DeVinney Road
York SC 29745

All contributions are tax-deductible on your
current-year income tax form

Don't forget to scroll down for Nature Notes & Photos,
plus lists of all birds banded or recaptured during the period