Hello,
The weather for the bird count this year couldn’t have been better, mild
temperatures, with a low of 0.6 C to a high of 8.3 C and little breezy at times
from the west. It was crisp under foot early on, but soon turned soft as the
conditions warmed up. Lakes and ponds were ice free, and water courses ran
freely.
Alas good weather doesn’t always mean good birding, as many complained that
birds were hard to find or missing in action.
The highlight this year would be the Palm Warbler that hung around at least
until Boxing Day and brought our total species seen on the Hamilton Christmas
Bird Count since records began to 199.
The number of species seen this year was 99, the 10 year average being 101.
The total number of individual birds counted was 43,439, the 10 year average
being 64,741.
We had record counts for the following species…….Turkey Vulture 2 - old record 1
Black Scoter 87 - old record 30
American Coot 186 - old record 167
Carolina Wren 50 second highest count, (record 52)
There were above average counts for the following species - 10 year average
count in brackets. Common Loon 5 (3), American Wigeon 2 (1), Northern
Shoveler 227 (89), Green-winged Teal 27 (20) ,
Hooded Merganser 139 (71), Northern Harrier 4 (2), Wild Turkey 76 (48),
Ring-billed Gull 1876 (1533), Herring Gull 2266 (1592), Glaucous Gull 14 (12),
Great Black-backed Gull 343 (114), Belted Kingfisher 8 (6),
Red-bellied Woodpecker 78 (50), Hairy Woodpecker 88 (73), Common Raven 2 (1),
White-breasted Nuthatch 241 (208), Gold-crowned Kinglet 49 (41), Yellow-rumped
Warbler 3 (2), Swamp Sparrow 6 (5).
The following species mirrored their exact 10 year average………..Great Blue Heron
9, Merlin 3, Peregrine Falcon 4, Pomarine Jaeger 1, Great-horned Owl 6,
Long-eared Owl 1, Tufted Titmouse 1, Winter Wren 17, Fox Sparrow 1.
Other interesting finds……………..Eastern Towhee, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Eastern
Phoebe.
The jury is out on how many Bald eagles there were on Boxing Day, as there were
15 reported, but I’m sure the same birds were seen in many count areas. We know
that at least 4 were seen in the air at one time by one group of counters.
We had low counts for the following species…………Mallard 2,777 (4601), Mallard x
Black Duck 2 (17), Northern Pintail 2 (13), Canvasback 84 (206), Redhead 11
(25), Ring-necked Duck 38 (70), Greater Scaup 3,429 (5,128),
Lesser Scaup 182 (1006), Long-tailed Duck 5,115 (8,009), Surf Scoter 54 (92),
Common Goldeneye 1,364 (2,290), Red-breasted Merganser 148 (314), Ruddy Duck
39 (530), American Kestrel 5 (14), Iceland Gull 2 (8), Rock Pigeon 1,443
(1,968), Mourning Dove 574 (1,235), Northern Flicker 4 (8), Blue Jay 280 (376),
American Crow 749 (878), Horned Lark 2 (18), Black-capped Chickadee 1,119
(1,674), Red-breasted Nuthatch 34 (42), Eastern Bluebird 10 (26), European
starling 8,339 (11, 043), Cedar Waxwing 75 (357), American Tree Sparrow 289
(681), Song Sparrow12 (32), White-crowned Sparrow 2 (14), Dark-eyed Junco 708
(1,222), Northern Cardinal 406 (546), Red-winged Blackbird 2 (7), Brown-headed
Cowbird 8 (15), House Finch 419 (479), Pine Siskin 31 (46), American Goldfinch
480 (881), House Sparrow 1, 293 (2,065).
Count Week birds………Harlequin Duck, Snowy Owl, and Marsh Wren.
A full report will follow with the full species counts and the list of
participants.
Many thanks to all the participants, and have a great birding New
Year………………………………T.
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