Hi Everyone, The 18th Wallaceburg, ON CBC took place on Saturday, Dec. 27. The weather was terrific with sunny skies all day, a high of 8 degrees Celcius, virtually no wind and an inch or three of snow covering the ground. The 17 observers turned up a total of 78 species, one above the average for the past 10 years and 4th highest in the 18 year history. We added 3 new species to the count, 14 new high individual totals, 3 tied highs and very few misses. A huge flock of approx. 10000 ducks that was present on Walpole Island on Thursday never visited the island during the count day, resulting in very low puddle duck numbers. The warm winter weather and open water failed to bring the diving ducks to the St. Clair River. A short summary follows: New Species: PILEATED WOODPECKER 2 GRAY CATBIRD 1 BROWN THRASHER 1 New Highs: GREAT BLUE HERON 7 TUNDRA SWAN 79 MUTE SWAN 16 CANADA GOOSE 436 NORTHEN HARRIER 27 SHARP-SHINNED HAWK 13 WILD TURKEY 80 (increasing exponentially) MOURNING DOVE 1735 EASTERN SCREECH OWL 41 (the lack of wind helped) GREAT HORNED OWL 36 (last year only 1???) TUFTED TITMOUSE 70 (only 19 last year but only one better than 2001) RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH 6 CAROLINA WREN 8 SONG SPARROW 131
Other Notables: 1 BALD EAGLE, 1 RED-SHOULDERED HAWK, 1 RING-NECKED PHEASANT, 6 NORTHERN BOBWHITE (a reliable spot on Walpole Island), 2 COMMON YELLOWTHROATS, 4 R/S TOWHEES, 2 FIELD SPARROWS, 1 FOX SPARROW, 1 BREWER'S BLACKBIRD Count Lows: 3 AM. BLACK DUCKS, 137 MALLARDS, 2 CANVASBACKS, 139 BLUE JAYS Count Week Species to Date: NORTHERN PINTAIL (part of the huge flock on Walpole Island) A special thanks to Wendy and Larry Cornelis for providing their house for the compilation and for the wonderful meal. Steve Charbonneau Erie Beach in Chatham-Kent, Ontario [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Steve Charbonneau" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Visit http://www.ofo.ca/ontbirdsguide.htm for information on leaving and joining the list. As well as general information and content guidelines.
