Hello Ontbirders,
The 40th Woodhouse Christmas Bird Count was held in unusually
mild and pleasant weather on Sunday, December 17, the count is centred on
Renton 7 km to the east of Simcoe in Norfolk County and roughly covers from
Port
Dover to Waterford and Simcoe to Jarvis. While some of our 36 counters felt
the birding was a bit slow at times, we did end up with a record high count of
99 species (inc 1 count week) of 22676 individuals.
With the nearly perfect birding conditions (mild, cloudy and calm) and
with all the water areas open, good numbers of ducks were seen on inland waters
but the duck numbers on the lake were disappointing, the abundant food crops
and the lack of snow contributed to the highest species total ever, but most of
the bird feeders that were looked at, although full of food, were devoid of
birds.
Preliminary results of the count are summarized below but there may be
more feeder watcher results to come in. Our count week ended yesterday but any
reports of uncommon or unusual species in our area between Dec 14 and 20
(inclusive) would be most welcome - please e-mail me privately ([EMAIL
PROTECTED])
if you have any such sightings, stating where in the circle they were seen.
NEW SPECIES FOR THE COUNT:
Blue-winged Teal - 1
Virginia Rail - 1
Northern Saw-whet Owl - 1
HIGHLIGHTS:
Double-crested Cormorant - 2nd record
Snow Goose - flock of 400+
Gadwall - 2nd highest total
American Green-winged Teal - 3rd record
Red-breasted Merganser - 2nd highest total
Wild Turkey - 2nd highest total
Brown Creeper - 2nd best total
Carolina Wren - 2nd best total
Gray Catbird - 4th record
Myrtle Warbler - flock of four
Savannah Sparrow - 3rd record
Song Sparrow - 2nd highest total
Northern Cardinal - 3rd highest total
TOP 5 SPECIES:
Canada Goose - 5461
Ring-billed Gull - 3888
European Starling - 1521
American Tree Sparrow - 1029
House Sparrow - 1066
RECORD HIGHS:
Pied-billed Grebe - 2, three previous records
Snow Goose - 402, four previous records, high of 2
American Wigeon - 5, two previous records, high of 4
Northern Shoveler - 5, three previous records, high of 3
Herring Gull - 633, previous high of 587
Belted Kingfisher - 12, previous high of 10
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 34, previous high of 26
Winter Wren - 10, previous high of 7
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 3, previous high of 2
Swamp Sparrow - 54, previous high of 17
EQUAL HIGH's
Turkey Vulture - 2, the 5th record
Northern Pintail - 2
Red-shouldered Hawk - 2
Merlin - 1, the 7th record
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 1, the 3rd record
COUNT WEEK SPECIES
Short-eared Owl
MISSED SPECIES
Canvasback, Hermit Thrush, Snow Bunting.
Total Species: 99 (average over last 19 years = 80, previous record was 96
species)
Total Individuals: 22,676 (average over last 18 years: 27,734)
# of participents: 36 + 3 feederwatchers
Thanks to all who participated and helped to make it a record count for the
2nd year running.
Happy holidays and good birding both this and next year
David Okines
Woodhouse count compiler
From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thu Dec 21 15:03:09 2006
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From: "Jack or Connie Walker" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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Date: Thu, 21 Dec 2006 15:02:42 -0500
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Subject: [Ontbirds]Northern Mockingbird - Stouffville
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I'm reporting this Northern Mockingbird on the North West side of
Stouffville just north of the end of Sandale Rd because:
1. It's a relatively frequent (about once a week) visitor.
2. The only reports in this area mentioning Northern Mockingbird was the
CBC report from Oshawa.
It comes to feed on (what I believe are) black chokecherries growing wild
behind my house. Besides today's siting, I also spotted it several times
last Friday (Dec 15), both times between 2:00 and 3:00 pm.
Sandale Road is 1 Km east of Hwy 48 and Stouffville Rd. It dead-ends about
325 meters north of that intersection.
Jack
