The London Count was held on Saturday, December 18, but it took until yesterday to get all the reports. Some 25 parties and nearly 40 feeders were involved. We had some snow on the ground, but the afternoon became progressively snowier, making visibility dicey at times, out on the driving routes.
The count was just before the cold snap which froze over the last of our large open waters...so we weren't "down" on ducks. In fact, a large number of Canada Geese, and Mallards, as well as a smattering of other waterfowl were found. Our total number of individuals has not been determined, but we had 70 species reported. Highlights within the 70 species, included... Gadwall 1 Ring-necked Duck 8 Coot 8 Greater Scaup 2 Lesser Scaup 3 Tufted Titmouse 5 (high number, we usually get 0 ) Glaucous Gull 3 Iceland Gull 3 (both at dump) Merlin (chasing a kingfisher) Peregrine (one of our London residents) Bald Eagle probably 5 White-crowned Sparrow 1 Fox Sparrow 2 Field Sparrow 3 Few winter finches, just a few purple finch and redpoll. Fewer crows and starlings were reported, but a lot of juncos were found. If more pops up, will let you know.. For now, Pete Read
