The Pakenham-Arnprior CBC was held on Boxing Day under ideal conditions with no wind, light cloud cover, 8 cm of snow cover, and warm temperatures (-7 to +1). Virtually all moving water was open for only the second time in my 46 years of doing the count. This resulted in more water birds than usual and resulting in a higher-than-average total count of 55 species. Highlights were: Green-winged Teal (new for the count, bringing our all-time list to 120 species), 2 Common Loons (3rd record), Red-bellied Woodpecker (4th record), 2 Ring-necked Ducks (6th record and new high count), 3 Merlins (6th record and new high count), Red-breasted Merganser (6th record), Belted Kingfisher(8th record), and Hoary Redpoll (9th record). Record high tallies were also taken of Mallards (262) and American Robins (77). On the other end of the scale, the two Ruffed Grouse set an all-time low!
Happy Birding! Michael Runtz _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
