These are the results of the 35th Woodhouse Christmas Bird Count held on Sunday December 19th, 2021. The Woodhouse CBC is centred 7 km east of Simcoe, at the crossroads of Highway 3 and Cockshutt Road at Renton, and roughly covers from Port Dover to Waterford and just west of Simcoe to east of Jarvis. Conditions were pretty much ideal with temps just below freezing, little to no wind, clear skies, and a light dusting of snow on the ground. 31 field birders covered the count area split between 17 groups, plus 5 feeder watchers.
We tallied 94 species on the day which ties last year's count as the 3rd highest species total ever, and the highest since the record of 99 was set in 2006. There were 3 new species added to the count, with the long-staying Summer Tanager as the bird of the count. Ravens continue to expand into the area with a record setting 14 recorded. There were 0 additional count week species. Total Species: 94 Average for the last 35 years = 85. Average for the last 10 years = 89. Total Individuals: 15,092 Average over all 35 years = 25,079. Average for the last 10 years = 20,224). Three new species were recorded that hadn't been seen on any previous Woodhouse count: 1 Greater White-fronted Goose at the park in downtown Simcoe 1 Summer Tanager coming to feeders in Simcoe 1 Vesper Sparrow near Townsend New count highs: 25 Trumpeter Swan (9 in 2012, and 6 last year) 28 Northern Pintail (6 in 2009) 67 Hooded Merganser (41 in 2020) 26 Bald Eagle (17 in 2013) 19 Cooper's Hawk (18 in 2010) 6 Merlin (4 in 2014, 2020) 61 Red-bellied Woodpecker (ties high in 2017) 2 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (ties high in 2017) 27 Yellow-shafted Flicker (26 in 2020) 66 Red-breasted Nuthatch (60 in 1999) 5 Pileated Woodpecker (ties high in 2010) 14 Common Raven (3 in 2019) Low counts: 0 Great Black-backed Gull (first time missed in 35 year history) 0 Great-horned Owl (2nd year in a row with 0 recorded) 0 Field Sparrow (1st miss in the last 10 years, after a record setting 23 last year) Below is the full species list: Common Loon 1 Horned Grebe 5 Double-crested Cormorant 1 Great Blue Heron 3 Turkey Vulture 1 Mute Swan 3 Trumpeter Swan 25 Tundra Swan 182 Canada Goose 3949 Cackling Goose 14 Greater White-fronted Goose 1 Mallard 1002 American Black Duck 30 Blue-winged Teal 1 Gadwall 2 Northern Pintail 28 Northern Shoveler 3 American Green-winged Teal 1 Redhead 190 Ring-necked Duck 28 Greater Scaup 55 Lesser Scaup 450 Common Goldeneye 177 Bufflehead 79 Hooded Merganser 67 Common Merganser 81 Red-breasted Merganser 540 Merganser sp. 11 Bald Eagle 26 Northern Harrier 15 Sharp-shinned Hawk 9 Cooper's Hawk 19 Red-tailed Hawk 112 Rough-legged Hawk 3 American Kestrel 16 Merlin 6 Ring-necked Pheasant 1 Wild Turkey 110 Bonaparte's Gull 131 Ring-billed Gull 327 Herring Gull 48 Rock Pigeon 668 Mourning Dove 332 Eastern Screech-Owl 6 Belted Kingfisher 7 Red-bellied Woodpecker 61 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 2 Downy Woodpecker 96 Hairy Woodpecker 22 Yellow-shafted Flicker 27 Pileated Woodpecker 5 Northern Shrike 3 Blue Jay 490 American Crow 674 Common Raven 14 Horned Lark 4 Black-capped Chickadee 258 Eastern Tufted Titmouse 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch 34 White-breasted Nuthatch 57 Brown Creeper 14 Carolina Wren 16 Winter Wren 6 Golden-crowned Kinglet 45 Eastern Bluebird 69 Hermit Thrush 3 American Robin 8 Northern Mockingbird 3 European Starling 1989 Cedar Waxwing 59 Myrtle Warbler 8 American Tree Sparrow 203 Chipping Sparrow 3 Fox Sparrow 1 Song Sparrow 37 Swamp Sparrow 29 White-throated Sparrow 41 White-crowned Sparrow 6 Vesper Sparrow 1 Slate-colored Junco 819 Snow Bunting 2 Northern Cardinal 146 Summer Tanager 1 Red-winged Blackbird 17 Eastern Meadowlark 5 Rusty Blackbird 2 Common Grackle 8 Brown-headed Cowbird 17 Purple Finch 29 House Finch 174 Common Redpoll 4 Pine Siskin 12 American Goldfinch 325 House Sparrow 476 -- 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 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.
