The 34th St. Clair National Wildlife Area Christmas Bird Count was held on
January 1, 2014. Much of the count circle is open farmland, with some very high
quality wetlands adjacent to Lake St. Clair and the lower reaches of the Thames
River.
This count relies on relatively mild conditions, with adequate open water, to
result in the greatest diversity and total numbers. The conditions for this
34th count was held under challenging conditions for the 16 participants in the
field. There was almost no open water, temperatures ranged from -9C to -13C
with moderate North-Northeast winds, and it snowed all day. The results
indicate the conditions prior to and on the count day. A total of only 67
species was tallied, with an additional 3 species noted during the count week.
This is well below the previous 10 year average of 83 species, and
significantly below the record 92 species counted a year ago.
There were 15 species that had been recorded on count day on 50% or more of all
34 counts beginning in 1981, but missed for this one: Snow Goose, American
Wigeon, Northern Shoveler, Canvasback, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Great Scaup,
Lesser Scaup, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Red-shouldered Hawk,
American Coot, Ring-billed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull and Northern Shrike.
Count week species were: Snow Goose, Common Merganser and Great Black-backed
Gull.
Nonetheless, there were some highlights. A new species for the count was Golden
Eagle, previously only recorded as a count week species. The cumulative total
number of species recorded on count day stands at 136 species; one additional
species has been noted during count week only.
New high counts this year (previous high) were:
Wild Turkey--15 (9)
Gray Catbird--2 (1)
Lapland Longspur--224 (155)
Common Grackle--1102 (528)
Other notable species or numbers were:
Yellow-headed Blackbird--1, only recorded once before
Snowy Owl--3, but a fairly average number for this count
Am Tree Sparrow--1361 (second highest total)
Dark-eyed Junco--859 (second highest total)
Red-winged Blackbird--717 (third highest total)
Snow Bunting--12254 (second highest total)
Allen Woodliffe--compiler
Chatham
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