Sorry for the long delay this year in posting our 112th CBC for London. I had a record number of participants with about 152 people which included 50 teams and 37 feeders. It took a long while to collect and collate such a number of results, as you can imagine. Our totals partially reflect the extra effort, but also the weather of the date, Saturday December 19. It was a relatively mild overcast day, with temperatures about zero, and just a little snow during the morning. No snow was on the ground, which made for good walking conditions. Covid precautions included no carpooling, encouraging masks, and social distancing, among other restrictions. There were higher numbers for many of the 80 species reported so far, and numbers over 26 000 individuals were recorded. Higher than average numbers of waterfowl were located due to open running water, and partially open still water, so there were many lingering Canada Geese(5186), Mallards(3228), Hooded Merganser(97), and others. We had a few Tundra Swans in Count Week and on the Count a Trumpeter Swan(1) for the second time, and some Mute Swans (8). Other waterfowl included both Scaup species (1 each), Ring-necked Duck(29), Redhead(16), Ruddy Duck(12), as well as other more common wintering ducks. A Canvasback was found on Count Week. Other highlights included a Pied-billed Grebe, an estimated 46 Bald Eagles(from over 80 reported), smashing all previous records, 2 Glaucous Gulls, 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 1 Iceland’s Gull, a Barred Owl, our first on Count Day, 2 Tufted Titmice, a Fox Sparrow, a Hermit Thrush, and an Eastern Towhee. We had a larger number than usual for White-crowned Sparrow at 9. Only one flock of 30 Snow Buntings was reported, and no Horned Lark. We had a scattering of winter finches, with just one flock of 8 White-winged Crossbills, but did have a number of Pine Siskins (199) and Common Redpolls(111). Included in one of the redpoll flocks were 2 Hoary Redpolls, the 3rd time for that species on our Count. Blackbirds were well-represented for once, but only 2 Common Grackles at different spots. The difference was in Brown-headed Cowbirds with over 300 in one flock and Red-winged Blackbirds were found in one big flock(93). The latter species has only been found on about 1/3rd of our Counts, and the total thus far was only 90 in all 35 of those Counts. So quite noteworthy for us. A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was also a Count Week bird. Thanks to all who took part. For more info or the complete results contact me. I am still working on making the results final.
Sent from Mail for Windows 10 -- Ontbirds and Birdnews are moderated email Listservs provided by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) as a service to all birders in Ontario. Birdnews is reserved for announcements, location summaries, first of year reports, etc. To post a message on Birdnews, send an email to: [email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns, contact the Birdnews Moderators by email at [email protected]. Please review posting rules and guidelines at http://ofo.ca/site/content/listserv-guidelines To edit your membership settings visit the Birdnews setup page at: http://ontbirds.ca/mailman/listinfo/birdnews_ontbirds.ca. During the COVID-19 pandemic, all Ontario birders should be taking extra precautions and following local, provincial, and federal regulations regarding physical distancing and non-essential travel. To find out more about OFO, please visit our website at ofo.ca or Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists.
