Prince Edward Point Christmas Bird Count 2022 Twenty-four enthusiastic citizen scientists headed out early December 17th on the forty-sixth Prince Edward Point Christmas Bird Count. The count circle is centered on Waupoos Island in Prince Edward Bay and stretches along the water from Point Traverse of the Prince Edward National Wildlife Area to across the Bay of Quinte near Adolphustown.For a count day, the weather was good. The high temperature was 2C with only light NW winds. Snow cover ranged from none, to off and on whiteouts in the PEPNWA.Even though the weather was good, the count of 65 species was below the average of 67 and the total of only 6,449 birds counted was well below the average of 31, 566. Counts of common water birds like Long-tailed Duck (957) and Greater Scaup (0) contribute to this low tally and they were starkly lower than their respective averages of 18,885 and 3,453. Large rafts of waterfowl were seen off shore but were too far away to identify. Also, due to a late cancellation, zone 3B along County Road 8, was not counted. Except for House Finches and American Goldfinches, finches were basically non-existent. One Great Horned Owl was found on count day.On a more positive note, the tally for American Robin at 382 was well above the 45-year average of 147. Similarly, the 358 Cedar Waxwings was more than twice the yearly average of 164. It was also nice to see that the count for Bald Eagles (15) continues its upward trend from an average of only 4. Other species that are not always seen on this count included Merlin, both Red-winged (4) and Rusty Blackbirds (3), and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (2). Highlights of count week included an additional Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Hermit Thrush, and Barred Owl.Thanks to all of the volunteers and especially to the team leaders, Paul Mackenzie, Barry Pinsky, Amy Bodman, Greg Forbes, Cheryl Anderson, Tom Wheatley and Tyler Hoar.Dale SmithDecember, 2022. -- 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.
