Hi Birders, Results from the 9th annual Linwood CBC have been compiled. With favourable weather (high +1, low -2 C; wind @ 25km/hr from the WNW), the count was quite productive, and a record high species total was recorded (56 sp.), breaking the previous record of 55 species (set in 2012). An additional species observed (so far) on count-week boosts the species total to 57 species. An above average number of individual birds was recorded, with 13,470 individuals observed. Conestogo Lake was completely open, marking the first time on count day of it being open in count history.
New species to the count: Red-breasted Merganser - 1 drake at Conestogo Lake (was previously observed during count-week, in 2012) Iceland Gull - 1 adult at Conestogo Lake (was previously observed during count-week, in 2012) Lesser Black-backed Gull - 1 first-basic seen at Conestogo Lake Brown-headed Cowbird - 2 birds in a flock of E. Starling's near Dorking This brings the count species list to 86 sp. Unusual species: Mute Swan - 3 (2nd record, high-count) Glaucous Gull - 1 (3rd record) Great Black-backed Gull - 3 (3rd record) Peregrine Falcon - 1 (2nd record, ties high-count) Swamp Sparrow - 1 (3rd record, ties high-high) Lapland Longspur - 7 (3rd record) Raptors: we created the Linwood CBC due to the high numbers of raptors in the count circle. Like every year conducted (so far), this was another good year for birds of prey in the CBC circle. Bald Eagle - 6 (this is a good count for an inland count) Northern Harrier - 23 (shatters the previous record of 8!) Sharp-shinned Hawk - 4 (average) Cooper's Hawk - 8 (ties high-count) Red-tailed Hawk - 87 (this is slightly low; only a few juvs. were observed throughout the entire count) Rough-legged Hawk - 113 (this is a normal count for the area, above the ave. of 98; ) American Kestrel - 7 (fairly low) Peregrine Falcon - see above Falcon sp. - 1 (prob. Merlin) Eastern Screech-Owl - 15 Great-horned Owl - 3 Snowy Owl - 21 (this is the 2nd highest count for the CBCs history) Record highs: Canada Goose - 1,307 (prev. high 958) Common Merganser - 532 (prev. high 79) Ring-billed Gull - 40 (prev. high 6) Herring Gull - 1,248 (prev. high 247) American Crow - 1,912 (prev. high 938) White-breasted Nuthatch - 47 (prev. high 40) Record lows: Mourning Dove - 20 (prev. low 48) Northern Cardinal - 30 (prev. low 30) For more information on the count and/or area, please email me privately. Good Birding! Ken Burrell [email protected] http://burrellbirding.ca/ _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide
