West Elgin CBC - Final Results - December 27th, 2003

[George . W . Prieksaitis]

The 56th Annual West Elgin Christmas Bird Count was held on December 27th,
2003 on a sunny day with light winds from west, northwest and a high
temperature of 7C.  A total of 75 courageous observers tallied a total of
85 species (the normal average is approximately 80 species), with a total
of 16,098 birds (the normal average is between 16,000 and 17,000 birds).
10 other species were seen during the Count Week.  Including the count week
species, the 95 species seen would represent a new West Elgin Nature Club
record (94 species seen in 1984).

Highlight species:
Two new species were added to the West Elgin CBC list - Hoary Redpoll (1)
and House Wren (1).
Other high1ights on Count day included 1 Hooded Merganser, 3 Goshawks, 2
Golden Eagles, 1 Merlin, 1 Northern Bobwhite (origin unknown), 2
Short-eared Owls, 1 Belted Kingfisher, 1 Gray Catbird, 1 Chipping Sparrow
and 1 Savannah Sparrow.  Other Count week highlights included 4
Double-crested Cormorants, 1 Red-shouldered Hawk, 1 Long-eared Owl, 1
Eastern Phoebe, 1 Northern Mockingbird, 1 Brown Thrasher, 3 Eastern
Meadowlarks, and 1 Common Grackle.

WENC High Count species:
New West Elgin CBC high counts were established for the following 12
species - Black Scoter (117), Long-tailed Duck (20), Sharp-shinned Hawk
(16), Cooper's Hawk (16), Red-tailed Hawk (187), Wild Turkey (87), Screech
Owl (32), Common Flicker (17), Pileated Woodpecker (7), Red-bellied
Woodpecker (43), Eastern Bluebird (122), and Carolina Wren (11).

Notable missed species were very few this year, but included Tundra Swan,
Red-headed Woodpecker and most of the northern winter finches including
Pine Grosbeak, Crossbills, and Evening Grosbeak.

Along with our traditional potluck dinner, an enjoyable program was
offerred at the end of day by Dave DePuydt that included an interesting
talk and slide show about Australia.  Thanks to all who participated in
another successful count and good birding in 2004!

Cheers,
George Prieksaitis
West Elgin Nature Club Christmas Bird Count Compiler


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