Duck Count - November 20, 2021

 The 12^th Annual Plymouth County Waterfowl Survey (better known as the duck count) was held on November 20, 2021. This was my first year leading this event, which had previously been run by Joe Scott. Many thanks to Joe for setting up this event and for all your hard work over the last several years!

We had 35 participants who split up into teams to cover all of the major freshwater ponds in Plymouth County. Thank you to everyone who participated and thanks to Pete, Lisa, Kathy, and Nate for your help recruiting and organizing the teams.

We had a clear, calm day with a high of 44°F. We’ve had very few cold days so far this year, so none of the ponds have frozen over yet. This can sometimes lead to lower numbers for the count, as freezing temperatures in northern New England or further inland can push ducks into our milder area. However, overall numbers for many species this year were pretty close to our long-term averages since the count began in 2010.

In addition to the usual species, we also had a few uncommon sightings this year. The Northwest team found 3 Northern Shovelers on Furnace Pond. This species was a lifer for Bonnie and also a first for me in my hometown of Pembroke. We also found a Common Goldeneye X Hooded Merganser on Great Sandy Bottom Pond. This makes 5 years in a row that this beautiful and unusual hybrid has been in the area.

Northern Shovelers by Bonnie Tate

The Marion Water Treatment Plant is under construction currently, but Carol got special permission to visit and found a Blue-winged Teal. Hank and Jill found a Greater White-fronted Goose at the Vaughan Hill Rd fields in Rochester. They credited a pair of Bald Eagles with scaring it into the water so it could be included in our official tally. A Cackling Goose had also been reported in that area recently, but it was absent on the day of the count.

Greater White-fronted Goose by Hank Levesque

Glenn and Ernie found a White-winged Scoter on Assawompsett Pond. Any sea ducks are unusual for this event, as we only cover freshwater ponds, but we do occasionally get a scoter or Long-tailed Duck on some of the largest ponds.

The tally was held virtually this year via Zoom. Several participants dialed in to go over the highlights for each team, review the final numbers, and swap stories. Hopefully we can get back to doing an in-person tally next year.

The full list of waterfowl species for this year is below:

Greater White-fronted Goose	1
Canada Goose	1,391
Mute Swan	295
Wood Duck	5
Gadwall	160
American Wigeon	83
American Black Duck	206
Mallard	1,315
Blue-winged Teal	1
Northern Shoveler	3
Northern Pintail	6
Green-winged Teal	82
Ring-necked Duck	766
Greater Scaup	95
Lesser Scaup	59
Scaup sp	72
Bufflehead	647
Common Goldeneye	127
Hooded Merganser	373
Common Merganser	97
Ruddy Duck	100
White-winged Scoter	1
Common Loon	3
Pied-billed Grebe	42
Horned Grebe	6
American Coot	28
Total Ducks	4,222
Total Waterfowl	5,988

Thanks again to all participants and the team captains!

Brian Vigorito