Hello Ontbirders The 39th Presqu'ile CBC was held on Sunday, 21 December. The weather was very poor in the morning with 50 kph west winds, calming somewhat by afternoon. We ended up with 73 species plus 10 more during count week and 17088 individuals which is about typical for the past decade. Some highlights follow:
New to Count 1 American Bittern (the 156th species recorded on the count) - this bird appeared healthy and was standing on a snow mound beside an open creek running through a small wetland west of Presqu'ile. This is the area's first December record that I am aware of; it has not been seen since. High Counts Mute Swan 215 Canada Goose 1021 American Black Duck 1397 - until the mid 1990's a count over 100 was exceptional but numbers have grown rapidly each year; birds are feeding (zebra mussels?) mostly around limestone shoals. This is part of a general increase in wintering puddle ducks, geese and swans around Presqu'ile. dark scoter spp 8 Ring-billed Gull 1013 Red-breasted Nuthatch 41 Low Counts Blue Jay 60 - typical recent counts fall between 200-400 with the all time high being 500. Notable but not quite Boldface status Ring-necked Duck CW Merlin 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 Common Yellowthroat CW Eastern Meadowlark CW Field Sparrow 1 Lapland Longspur 2 I haven't been in the park for several days but I checked Presqu'ile Bay today and was amazed to see a flock of about 2000 aythya ducks, the bulk of which were not here on the CBC a week ago. Most were males and in good colour. Species and totals are below, followed by the number seen on the CBC. Redhead 890 (26) Canvasback 20 (0) Greater Scaup 840 (121) Lesser Scaup 22 (CW) Ring-necked Duck 2 (CW) We sometimes get influxes like this as early as late January if we get a few days of warm weather but this is ridiculous. I have no idea where these birds came from but they had all the look and feel of an early spring flight. So does this mean we have seen the first migrants of the year before the year even begins? Doug McRae, on behalf of co-compilers John Blaney and Maureen Riggs Doug McRae <[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.
