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THIS WEEK at HILTON POND
18-30 December 2022

Installment #794---Visitor #web counter

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Oct 15 to Mar 15:
East of the Rockies please report
your sightings of
Vagrant & Winter Hummingbirds

(immature male Rufous Hummingbird at right)

32nd ANNUAL YORK/ROCK HILL SC CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT (2022):
LOTS OF SPECIES AND RECORDS,
FEW INDIVIDUALS

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 122 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 2020 when 2,621 CBCs in the United States, Canada, Latin America , and Pacific Islands involved 76,880 participants who tallied nearly 43 million birds, with 672 species in the U.S. alone!

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

Revised Map of the York/Rock Hill Christmas Bird Count Circle
Click on new map above to open a larger, more legible version

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 before sunrise and finishing at 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 aerial map above). 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.)

Our 32nd annual York/Rock Hill count on 17 December 2022 began under partly cloudy skies with no wind and a temperature of 58°. High temperature was an unseasonably warm 70.5°, dropping to 65° as the count ended at dusk. (Note: We're more than grateful we hadn't scheduled the count for the following weekend, when start temperatures would have been in the single digits!)

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

This year's field observers (photo above) included 13 stalwarts: Count compiler Bill Hilton Jr. (32-year veteran), Bob Olson (25 years), Tom Anderson (nine years), third-year participants Cindy Stacy and Cheryl & Marcus Morris, Gretchen Locy with two years, and first-timers John Henry, Hunter & Matt Ohmann, and Stephanie, Lilliana, and Anabelle Simpson. Neighborhood and feeder watchers included Dr. John Demchak and Susan B. Hilton.

As detailed on Table 1 below, the 2022 count yielded 77 of 128 species reasonably possible in this part of the Carolina Piedmont, although a few are unlikely. This species tally--our third-best-ever--was getting close to our all-time high of 80 in 2000 and was well above our 32-year average of 63.6. In all, observers tallied a surprisingly low number of individual birds at 2,209, barely half our long-time average of 4,228 and only a sixth the record high of 12,945 set in 1994. (The tally for each of the first ten years of the count--1991-2000--exceeded this year's total, which ranked 21st out of all 32 counts.) Over the course of 32 years 189 different observers have tallied 135,285 birds in the 15-mile-diameter count circle.

Below we include comments with photos of several notable species taken by this year's York/Rock Hill SC Christmas Bird Count participants. Thanks to them for sharing their work in the field and behind the camera.

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

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

Among the first birds to be tallied on this year's count was an adult male Purple Finch (above). feeding at Hilton Pond Center with eight other PUFI. This species often doesn't show up in our area until after New Year's Day; we've recorded it on only 14 of 32 York/Rock Hill counts.

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center
Photo above © Bob Olson. Used with permission.

By comparison, Canada Geese (above) have been tallied on every count since 1991. Historically, many of our York County geese were likely migrants, but they now stay year-round--much to the chagrin of golf course landscapers and owners of small lakes. (We get them on Hilton Pond only a few times each year; they often fly over en route to larger bodies of water.)

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center
Photo above © Hunter Ohmann. Used with permission.

Great Blue Herons (above) are also reliable for our York/Rock Hill count; we haven't "dipped" on this species in 32 years. Although some herons we encounter may be winter residents that come down from further north, many may disperse from nearby rookeries in the Catawba and Broad River Basins.

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center
Photo above © John Henry. Used with permission.

A far less common wading bird for York County is the Great Egret (above), with black legs and yellow bill. This year's sighting was just our fourth-ever; all likely wandered inland the preceding autumn from some Lowcountry breeding site.

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center
Photo above © John Henry. Used with permission.

Often when we find a herons or egrets we also see Pied-billed Grebes (above) swimming and diving solo or in small groups. Most years they're common on ponds across the count circle but are especially prevalent on backwaters of Lake Wylie--the 13,400-acre reservoir formed by a dam on the Catawba River.

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center
Photo above © John Henry. Used with permission.

With populations of Loggerhead Shrikes in steep decline across their range, we're always pleased to score one on the York/Rock Hill count. The most we've ever seen was five; this year brought three. How appropriate John Henry's photo above shows this shrike on a barbed wire fence, where the "butcher bird" sometimes impales its prey.

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center
Photo above © Cindy Stacy. Used with permission.

When tallying species for Christmas Bird Counts across the eastern U.S. you'll likely expect lots of Dark-eyed Juncos to swell your numbers. Alas, that doesn't seem to be the case anymore within the York/Rock Hill circle (see chart below).

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

Our 43 DEJU this year--the most since 2014--were a nice improvement over the past several years. That number, however, was barely a tenth of the all-time high set 'way back in 1998, and well below the 32-year average of 70. Note that we tallied zero juncos in 2019. We suspect our local decline in Dark-eyed Juncos is an indication of climate change, with fewer individuals leaving their now-warmer northern range in winter.

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center
Photo above © Cindy Stacy. Used with permission.

Another species that has declined dramatically in our area in the past half-century is Northern Bobwhite. Once a favorite of Christmas shooters across the Carolina Piedmont, this native quail has been encountered on only three of our local mid-winter surveys. The one above--a male with a white eyeline and chin (females are buffy)--had been hanging around Cindy Stacy's farm west of Newport since the summer and put in a brief appearance for this year's count.

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center
Photo above © Cindy Stacy. Used with permission.

Also at Cindy Stacy's place this winter and on count day was this Baltimore Oriole, a fruit- and nectar-eater that historically spends colder weather in the Neotropics. In recent years, however, BAOR have been overwintering in greater numbers, especially in the South Carolina Midlands. Our latest sighting was only our second for the York/Rock Hill count.

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center
Photo above © Dr. John Demchak. Used with permission.

Just in time for this year's count, Dr. John Demchak began hosting an adult female Rufous Hummingbird at his home on the shores of Lake Wylie at Rock Hill. Although western vagrant hummers such as this are never expected for our count, the bird above was our seventh occurrence for a RUHU. (This individual was captured on count day by Bill Hilton Jr., confirming the bird's species, age, and sex. See Rufous Hummingbird Banded in Rock Hill.)

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center
Photo above © Dr. John Demchak. Used with permission.

Perhaps our most unexpected bird this year was an out-of-range Western Grebe. Our York/Rock Hill participants didn't actually see this rarity on count day, but it was present during "Count Week" (within three days before and/or three days after the count date). Western Grebes are seldom seen east of the Mississippi River Valley; eBird shows less than a half-dozen records for South Carolina. Like the Rufous Hummingbird, the one above was a new "Yard Bird" for John Demchak!

The chart below shows in 2022 we tied or surpassed the 32-year average for 43 species on the York/Rock Hill count. Records were set or tied for 11 species: Bald Eagle (5, up from 4), Prairie Horned Lark (24, up from 3), Common Loon (6, up from 5), White-breasted Nuthatch (7, up from 4), American Woodcock (3, up from 2), Downy Woodpecker (19, up from 17), and Pine Warbler (13, tie); two Cooper's Hawks and one each of the seldom-counted Great Egret, Rufous Hummingbird, and Baltimore Oriole tied previous records. A total of 23 species have been seen on every one of the 32 counts since 1991.

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

TABLE 1:
2022 YORK/ROCK HILL SC
CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT TOTALS
(17 December 2022)
RED = New record high (6 species)
GREEN = Ties record high (5 species)
PALE BLUE = At or above average (43 species)
Common
Name
2022
Count
32-year
Avg.
32-year
High
Number of
Counts
[Blackbird, Brewer's]
.
--
--
--
Blackbird, Red-winged
12
265
5,580
26
Blackbird, Rusty
.
2
30
7
Blackbird sp.
.
142
2,156
(9)
Bluebird, Eastern
135
82
216
32
Bobwhite, Northern
1
1
13
3
Bufflehead
.
2
11
11
Bunting, Snow
.
<1
1
1
Buteo sp.
.
<1
1
(1)
Canvasback
.
<1
8
1
Cardinal, Northern
108
72
169
32
Catbird, Gray
.
<1
1
1
Chickadee, Carolina
41
40
159
32
Coot, American
10
16
79
27
Cormorant, Double-crested
58
45
151
27
Cowbird, Brown-headed
18
25
245
14
Creeper, Brown
.
1
4
13
Crow, American
66
81
191
32
Crow, Fish
.
<1
10
3
Dove, Mourning
65
91
266
32
Dove, Rock (Pigeon)
23
34
185
28
Duck, American Black
.
<1
4
5
Duck, Ring-necked
.
4
50
9
Duck, Ruddy
6
3
19
11
Duck, Wood
.
1
10
9
[Dunlin]
.
--
--
--
Eagle, Southern Bald
5
1
5
15
Egret, Great
1
<1
1
4
[Falcon, Peregrine]
.
--
--
--
Finch, House

98
42
193
32
Finch, Purple
9
3
30
13
Flicker, Northern
20
8
33
29
Gadwall
.
<1
3
3
[Gnatcatcher,
Blue-gray]
.
--
--
--
Goldeneye, Common
.
<1
1
1
Goldfinch, American
25
23
70
31
Goose, Canada
234
154
300
32
[Goose, Snow]
.
--
--
--
Grackle, Common
7
465
3,901
24
Grebe, Horned
2
2
11
15
Grebe, Pied-billed
3
6
24
30
Grebe, Western
CW
--
--
--
[Grosbeak, Evening]
.
--
--
--

Gull, Bonaparte's
42
161
1,200
32
Gull, Herring
.
1
7
5
Gull, Laughing
.
<1
1
1
Gull, Ring-billed
11
649
3,708
32
Harrier, Northern
1
1
6
19
Hawk, Cooper's
2
1
2
18
Hawk, Red-shouldered
7
4
10
31
Hawk, Red-tailed
7
10
23
31
Hawk, Sharp-shinned
.
1
4
14
Heron, Great Blue
19
17
39
32
Heron, Green
.
<1
1
1
Hummingbird, Rufous
1
<1
1
7
Jay, Blue
92
63
247
32
Junco, Dark-eyed
43
70
404
31
Kestrel, American
9
3
10
28
Killdeer
64
29
119
32
Kingfisher, Belted
2
4
14
29
Kinglet, Golden-crowned
14
5
38
23
Kinglet, Ruby-crowned
20
14
48
32
Lark, Prairie Horned
24
1
24
3
Loon, Common
6
2
5
23
Mallard
33
40
141
30
Meadowlark, Eastern
15
27
114
29
[Merganser, Common]
.
--
--
--
Merganser, Hooded
6
6
38
20
Merganser, Red-breasted
.
<1
5
3
[Merlin]
.
--
--
--
Mockingbird, Northern
41
35
99
32
Nuthatch, Brown-headed
8
4
18
30
Nuthatch, Red-breasted
.
<1
1
6
Nuthatch, White-breasted
7
1
7
14
Oriole, Baltimore
1
<1
1
2
Osprey
.
<1
3
2
Owl, Barred
1
<1
3
9
Owl, E. Screech-
.
<1
1
3
Owl, Great Horned
.
<1
3
7
[Owl, Northern Saw-whet]
.
--
--
--
Phoebe, Eastern
11
6
16
31
[Pintail, Northern]
.
--
--
--
Pipit, American
18
21
403
14
[Redhead]
.
--
--
--
Robin, American
226
485
7,705
32
Sapsucker, Yellow-bellied
9
4
12
31
Scaup, Greater
.
<1
4
1
Scaup, Lesser
.
3
70
6
[Shoveler, Northern]
.
--
--
--
Shrike, Loggerhead
3
1
5
15
Siskin, Pine
.
2
25
2
Snipe, Wilson's
.
<1
4
5
Sparrow sp.
.
8
112
(7)
Sparrow, Chipping
107
31
136
27
Sparrow, Field
4
10
58
25
Sparrow, Fox
1
<1
4
8
Sparrow, House
8
10
48
25
[Sparrow, Lincoln's]
.
--
--
--
Sparrow, Savannah
3
2
27
12
Sparrow, Song
18
27
91
32
Sparrow, Swamp
1
1
15
15
Sparrow, Vesper
.
1
34
3
Sparrow, White-crowned
.
<1
7
1
Sparrow, White-throated
69
45
179
32
Starling, European
46
485
3,063
32
Teal, Green-winged
.
1
15
3
[Teal, Blue-winged]
.
--
--
--
[Tern, Forster's]
.
--
--
--
Thrasher, Brown
3
3
14
27
Thrush, Hermit
5
2
15
26
Titmouse, Tufted
26
21
44
32
Towhee, Eastern
14
20
59
31
Turkey, Wild
.
7
53
8
Vireo, Blue-headed
.
<1
3
4
Vulture, Black
28
40
222
32
Vulture, Turkey
21
57
264
31
Warbler, Black-and-white
.
<1
1
1
Warbler, Palm (Yellow)
.
<1
3
2
Warbler, Pine
13
4
13
28
Warbler, Yellow-rumped
17
30
196
29
Waxwing, Cedar
56
96
1,322
28
[Wigeon, American]
.
--
--
--
Woodcock, American
3
<1
3
5
Woodpecker, Downy
19
7
17
32
Woodpecker, Hairy
.
1
3
12
Woodpecker, Pileated
2
1
7
10
Woodpecker, Red-bellied
27
16
41
32
Woodpecker, Red-headed
3
1
13
19
Wren, Carolina
27
25
74
32

Wren, House

.

1

1

4
Wren, Winter
1
1
3
16
Yellowthroat, Common
.
<1
1
2

2022 Individuals

2,209
32-yr avg
4,228
32-yr total
135,285
32-yr Max
12,945

2022 Species

77
32-yr avg
63.6
32-yr Max
80
23 spp. seen every year
[Bracketed] species are possible/probable for the area but have not yet been observed on count day for an official York/Rock Hill CBC.

112 species have been observed at least once over the 32-year history of the count; our local CBC record is 80 species in 2000. Record number of individuals for our local CBC is 12,945 in 1994. Average number of observers in the field is six.

CW = Species seen this year during count week (three days before or three after) but not on count day

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

HILTON POND SUNSETS
(from our on-going series)

"Never trust a person too lazy to get up for sunrise
or too busy to watch the sunset." --BHjr

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

Sunset over Hilton Pond, 17 December 2022

First visible sunset after what seems like weeks of cloudy, drizzly, wet, chilly weather. May it vanquish that Seasonal Affective Disorder about which some folks have complained!

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

Sunset over Hilton Pond, 28 December 2022

It was a dark day here after we got word my favorite mother-in-law Norma Laverne Dressler Ballard had taken her last breath and passed away peacefully in Anderson SC at age 97. She was the sweetest, kindest, most generous woman I've ever known, and I'm infinitely grateful she transferred those traits and more to The Goddess. We'll miss you, Norm, you and your smile and your stories that ranged from Kansas to concrete and genealogy to why women ruled the biblical world. This sunset and the Moon at upper left are for you. Hugs forever! --BHjr

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

Don't forget to scroll down for lists of Hilton Pond supporters and of all birds banded and recaptured during the period.

Photoshop image post-processing for this page employs
DeNoise AI, Sharpen AI, and other Topaz Labs tools.


"This Week at Hilton Pond" is written and photographed by Dr. Bill Hilton Jr., executive director of Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History

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Thanks to the following fine folks for recent gifts in support of Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History and/or Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird Project. Your tax-deductible contributions allow us, among other things, to continue writing, photographing, and sharing "This Week at Hilton Pond" with students, teachers, fellow scientists, and the general public. Please scroll below to the blue section if you'd like to make a gift of your own.

We're pleased folks are thinking about the work of the Center and making donations. Those listed below made contributions received during the period. Please join them if you can in coming weeks.

Gifts can be made via PayPal/Vimeo (funding@hiltonpond.org); credit card via Network for Good (see link below); or personal check (c/o Hilton Pond Center, 1432 DeVinney Road, York SC 29745). You can also donate through our Facebook fundraising page.

The following donors made contributions to Hilton Pond Center during the period 18-30 December 2022.

  • Rebecca Diak (long-time supporter; via PayPal)
  • Andy Douglas (repeat donor; via PayPal)
  • Susan Joseph (monthly recurring donor via Network for Good)
  • Tom Lemke
  • Ann Marsh (repeat donor)
  • Kathy & Don Miner (long-time supporter; via PayPal)
  • Sue Monahan (repeat donor)
  • John McCoy (long-time "Top Tier" supporter)
  • Cynthia Mynatt (repeat donor; via Network for Good)
  • Ric Porter (repeat donor; via PayPal)
  • Russell Rogers (long-time supporter, via Network for Good)
  • Bob Placier (long-time donor; via Network for Good)
  • The friends below contributed via the "Donate" button on one of the Center's Facebook postings or fundraisers; some may be repeat contributors. Several have set up through Facebook to make a recurring monthly donation to benefit the Center. Many are much-appreciated long-time and/or repeat donors.
    --Daniel Ballard, Susan Ballard Hilton, Anne Ballard, Chuck Curran, Laura Crompton, Nancy Martin Wagner, Kim Beard, Andrea Ayala, Tara O'Leary, Cheri Dixon Howell, J. Drew Lanham, Bill Pennington.
    * = Past participant in Operation RubyThroat Neotropical Hummingbird expedition
 
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The Piedmont Naturalist--Vol. 1--1986 (Hilton Pond Press)
is an award-winning collection of timeless newspaper columns that first appeared in The Herald in Rock Hill SC. Optimized for tablets such as iPad and Kindle, electronic downloads of the now out-of-print paperback volume are available by clicking on the links below. The digital version includes pen-and-ink drawings from the original print edition--plus lots of new color photos.
All sales go to support the work of Hilton Pond Center.
 

BIRDS BANDED THIS WEEK at
HILTON POND CENTER
18-30 December 2022

SPECIES BANDED THIS PERIOD:
American Goldfinch--2
House Finch--5
Purple Finch--10

* = new banded species for 2022

PERIOD BANDING TOTAL:
 3 species
17 individuals

2022 BANDING TOTAL:
80 species (41-yr. avg. = 66.1)
2,153 individuals (41-yr. avg. =
1,879.6)
281 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds

41-YEAR BANDING GRAND TOTAL:
(Banding began 28 June 1982; since then 173 species have been observed on or over the property.)
128 species banded
77,065 individuals banded
7,190 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds banded since 1984

NOTABLE RECAPTURES THIS WEEK:
(with original banding date, verified sex, and current age):
Carolina Chickadee (2)
07/06/21--2nd year unknown
09/19/21--2nd year male

Yellow-rumped Warbler (2)
11/06/21--2nd year male

** Notable local longevity for species

OTHER NATURE NOTES:
--Frequent rains, brutally cold temperatures, and a case of bander COVID-19 kept us from deploying mist nets the past half of Dec 2022 at Hilton Pond Center, with a single-digit low of 8.1°F at sunrise on the 24th the lowest mark in many years. (Christmas Day dawned not much warmer at 11.3°.) Unlike most winters when we are faced with cold weather, birds were coming to our feeders but NOT entering various traps baited with black sunflower seed--hence low banding numbers for the period.

--As of 30 Dec, the Center's 2022 Yard List stood at 108--about 62.4% of 173 avian species encountered locally since 1982. Our record for one calendar year is 111. (Incidentally, all species so far this year have been observed from windows, porches, or the backyard of our old farmhouse!) If you're not keeping a Yard List for your own property we encourage you to do so, and to report your sightings via eBird, where you, too, can be a "citizen scientist!") New species observed locally for 2022 during the period 18-30 Dec. None this week.

--Our immediate past installment of "This Week at Hilton Pond" was about banding a winter vagrant Rufous Hummingbird and is archived and always available on our Web site as Installment #793.

All text & photos © Hilton Pond Center


Oct 15 to Mar 15:
East of the Rockies please report your sightings of
Vagrant & Winter Hummingbirds

(immature male Rufous Hummingbird at right)

(Back to Preceding Week; on to Next Week)

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Current Weather Conditions at Hilton Pond Center


Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History is a non-profit research, conservation & education organization in York, South Carolina USA; phone (803) 684-5852. Directed by Dr. Bill Hilton Jr., aka "The Piedmont Naturalist," it is parent organization for Operation RubyThroat. Web site contents--including text and photos--may NOT be duplicated, modified, or used in any way except with express written permission of Hilton Pond Center. All rights reserved worldwide. To request permission for use or for further assistance, please contact Webmaster.