Portsmouth and Ocracoke Christmas Bird Counts shed light on birds present in winter
By Peter Vankevich
Following a long tradition, the Portsmouth Island and Ocracoke Christmas Bird Counts took place on the last two days of the year. These are two of more than 40 bird counts that took place throughout North Carolina and expected about 2,600 counts worldwide and 80,000 participants.
Whereas the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years wreaked havoc on the counts throughout the world, this time it was another virus that had an impact. It was not people, but the birds harmed. A worldwide outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) hit eastern North Carolina this fall causing the sight of sick and dead birds on the counts.
Portsmouth was the first count day and Captain Rudy Auston along with deckhand Lena Austin O’Neal took two boatloads of observers from Ocracoke, dropping everyone off at the haulover dock.
Four groups were formed, dividing the village into precincts, and the count was on. The morning was cool enough not to be pestered by the island’s notorious mosquitoes. (There is no mosquito spraying on Portsmouth Island.) Two brief showers caused some pauses, but the overcast day with low winds was conducive for a bird count.
Getting to the beach and dunes from the village is a major challenge these days as the former salt flat has filled with cord grass and other aquatic marsh plants making the long crossing difficult.
Due to a breach from Hurricane Dorian, the Park Service cannot drive a truck up the beach to the village. So, to provide support, Cape Lookout National Seashore Superintendent Jeff West would make his way to the village by boat and shuttle the observers in a beach-worthy all-terrain vehicle kept in the village.
This year he could not make it, but Cape Lookout provided three very capable birders Karen Altman, Jeannie Kraus and Chelsey Stephenson who were able to access and cover the important beach, ocean and dunes habitats.
By the time Captain Rudy showed up to pilot the observers back to Ocracoke, a total of 65 species were tallied, the last was an Osprey seen from the dock on a distant tree branch eating a fish. The Ocracoke count had 80 species.
The weather the next day for the Ocracoke count kind of mirrored the birds — dullish, a bit overcast with a midmorning fog bad enough to temporarily suspend ferry service.
Unlike last year when Ocracoke reported a state high number of Red Knots — 516, approximately 5,000 close-in migrating Northern Gannets, and more than 1,100 Dunlin at South Point — there was little drama.
Birds that spend their time in the extensive dunes and cedar thickets were reluctant to make appearances or even calls.
Missing from Ocracoke were its shorebirds. Only two Black-bellied Plovers and Killdeer, eight Sanderlings and nine Greater Yellowlegs were seen. Although one may attribute the freezing weather the previous week to the missing shorebirds, this fall the overall numbers of Willets, Sanderlings, Dunlin and a few others were fewer than in previous years
Ocracoke village is now full of Eurasian-collared Doves, 117 counted. This bird first showed up in the early 2000s. Eurasian-collared Doves prefer human assisted habitats, so are rarely seen outside of the village. Along Highway 12 which crosses the island, six American Kestrels were perched on the power lines.
No rarities were reported, but Ocracoke added a new species for the count.
Since 1981 when the first count began, a total of 196 species had been reported.
The newly added bird may surprise many: it was a Rock Pigeon. Common throughout the world and seen in almost every town in the United States, this bird rarely appears on Ocracoke. Hal Broadfoot, a veteran of these counts, saw two of them at the Pony Pasture.
The big stars for both counts were American Robins, 900 tallied on Ocracoke and one thousand on Portsmouth. For Portsmouth, this was the highest number recorded and for Ocracoke, the second highest, in 1990 there were 2,654 individuals.
The two celebrity Great Horned Owls in the village returned to their favorite roosting tree a little after 5 p.m. The Bald Eagle that has been regularly seen since early fall was not seen but was the day before. Six species were seen in the count week, i.e. the three days on either side, but not the count day.
By the end of the day a total of 80 species were reported on Ocracoke. The average per species per year is typically in the mid-80s.
The number of species and individuals for these one-day counts vary from year-to-year and weather conditions can have a big impact for better or worse. Warmer winters may keep birds farther north. High winds and rain will keep birds huddled in cover. The number of observers can also impact on the numbers.
The Ocracoke bird count list below was corrected 1/22/23 with the addition of Eurasian-collared Doves and six count-week birds.
Sustainable electricity we can rely on
Op-Ed
By North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper
North Carolinians deserve reliable, sustainable electricity at a reasonable cost, but because of increasingly severe weather and aging fossil fuel plants, that result could be less certain.
That’s why we now have a plan to ensure more reliable and sustainable electricity by moving more quickly toward low-cost renewable energy.
We only have to look at December’s severe cold weather to see more than half a million frustrated North Carolinians without power during the Christmas holidays.
According to Duke Energy, the Christmas Eve power outages resulted from equipment failures at coal and natural gas plants while renewable energy performed as expected.
Families spent Christmas Eve without lights or heat because of equipment failures at five different fossil fuel plants. This is unacceptable and North Carolina is taking action to prevent future power failures.
It starts with the plan to transition from fossil fuel-generated electricity to more clean energy.
In October 2021, I signed the bipartisan state law, House Bill 951, which set the first-ever carbon reduction goals for our state while working to keep costs low and reliability high.
As directed by this legislation, the Utilities Commission recently released a carbon plan with a balanced approach to increase renewables and make sure there is a more reliable electric grid. Solar energy is already cheaper than coal and gas, and rapid advancements in wind energy and battery storage technology will make them an even more essential part of a reliable, lower-cost energy mix.
We also need to make sure our electric grid is prepared to handle our everyday power needs and is resilient enough to withstand future severe storms.
My administration is planning investments in federal funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act signed by President Biden to help North Carolina build a more modern, resilient energy grid delivering reliable, lower cost, clean energy to our homes and businesses.
And let’s not forget the great jobs the clean energy economy is already bringing to North Carolina – not only did CNBC rank our state as the best in the country to do business, so did Business Facilities magazine which cited growth in our clean energy sector as a driving factor.
Clean, reliable and low-cost electricity is the backbone of our communities and a strong economy.
The significant investments to move the electric grid to more reliable, cleaner, renewable energy will help put more money in the pockets of North Carolinians.
Finally, there is almost universal scientific agreement that climate change is causing more severe weather and putting our planet at risk. Carbon emission reductions are essential in the fight against climate change, and high-paying clean energy jobs are a positive by-product of the transition away from fossil fuels.
North Carolina has a history of forward-looking innovation that has been the foundation of our success as a state. Now we’re deploying that tradition again to tackle our 21st century energy challenges.
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