The second Comber CBC took place yesterday, December 21st, w/ 22 participants. It was great to see several new volunteers on the Count this year. Effort data is still being tallied. The day saw a mix of partially cloudy and sunny skies w/ temperatures between -7C and -3C and moderate 20km/h west winds. Most inland waters and most of the edge of Lake St. Clair were completely frozen, similar to the previous year’s count. Very little snow was present on the ground. A total of 65 species and 16,658 individuals were counted. The best birds of the Count were Snow Goose and Glaucous Gull. Other highlights included 2 White-winged Scoters, 1 Rough-legged Hawk, 8 Short-eared Owls, 1 Belted Kingfisher, a Peregrine Falcon eating a Common Goldeneye, 1 Northern Shrike, and 5 Fox Sparrows. Notable counts included 2,715 Canada Geese, 3,124 Tundra Swans, 402 Mallards, 384 Common Mergansers, 626 Mourning Doves, 36 Great Blue Herons, 2,489 American Crows, 1,710 House Sparrows, and 802 Dark-eyed Juncos. Seven new species were added to the Count: Snow Goose, White-winged Scoter, Bufflehead, Peregrine Falcon, Pine Siskin, Rusty Blackbird, and Yellow-rumped Warbler. Winter finch numbers were low again this year. Without snow, Horned Lark and Snow Buntings numbers were much lower than during the 2024 Count (Snow Buntings were almost absent). The frozen waters of Lake St. Clair made it difficult to get a higher diversity of waterfowl and gull numbers were much lower than in 2024. Raptors were once again found in good numbers throughout the Circle including Northern Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, Cooper’s Hawk, and Bald Eagle. Notable misses included Cackling Goose, Mute Swan, Redhead, Lesser Scaup, Hooded Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Sandhill Crane, Ring-billed Gull(!), Great Black-backed Gull, Double-crested Cormorant, Red-shouldered Hawk, Eastern Phoebe (CW), Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Bluebird, Hermit Thrush, Cedar Waxwing, Purple Finch, Field Sparrow, and Common Grackle. Next year’s Count will be held on December 20th. Jeremy Hatt -- Ontbirds and Birdnews are moderated email Listservs provided by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) as a service to all birders in Ontario.
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