The 44th Presqu'ile Christmas Bird Count was held on Sunday Dec 14/2008. Thirty participants covered our area this year. Thanks to Maureen Riggs for organizing the count and Lois Helleiner and May Wilson for preparing the food for the wrap-up. Special thanks to May and Bill Wilson for "hosting" the wrap-up at Presqu'ile Park's staff house.
76 species were tallied this year which is below average but a number of species were at all-time highs. Some birds of note are presented below. 1 Thayer's Gull is new to the count, making it the 157th species recorded 2270 Canada Geese is a record high beating the old record of 1687. 491 Mute Swan was a record count, blowing the old record of 363 away. 471 of those were in Presqu'ile Bay. Is this the main early wintering location for the entire eastern Lake Ontario population? It was generally a good year for Raptors The Harrier Count of 6 ties the previous high. The 6 Sharp-shinneds, 5 Coopers and 2 Goshawks is just 1 off the record for each species. The Red-tailed Hawk number of 67 was the second highest total ever after 1993 which had 71. The Rough-legged Hawk number of 6 was the highest in 20 years, the record was 17 in 1977. Conversely we had no Kestrel for the first time in 20 years. 3 Iceland Gulls was a record high 12 Shrikes was the highest total since 2000 6 Northern Ravens is a record high, the previous high was 2. 4 Marsh Wrens is a record high 28 Eastern Bluebirds was a record high, the previous high was 18 in 1999. 4686 Starlings was a massive record. The previous high was 2814. 10 White-throated Sparrows was a record over the previous 9 5 White-crowned Sparrows beats the old record of 2. 95 White-winged Crossbills is also a big record breaker - the previous high was 8 and this species has only been recorded twice in the last 20 years. And finally our lone Evening Grosbeak was the first on the count since 1995. If anyone is interested in the numbers for the whole count email me and I will send it to you. David David Bree Natural Heritage Education (NHE) Leader Presqu'ile Provincial Park 328 Presqu'ile Parkway Brighton, ON K0K 1H0 Tel: (613) 475-4324 ext. 225 Fax: (613) 475-2209 _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For instructions to join or leave ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdssetup.php ONTBIRDS Guidelines may be viewed at http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdsguide.php
