The Long Pt Christmas Count, sponsored by Long Point Bird Observatory and Bird Studies Canada, was held Saturday December 17th. Fifty observers enjoyed a very pleasant day under partly cloudy skies with temperatures ranging from -4 to -1 C and light northerly winds. A warmer than normal late fall, combined with wide open water on Long Point Bay and the area's marshes, lead to expectations of a good count and we were not disappointed. At the end of the day, 66, 707 individuals ( well above the long-term average of 25,500) of 113 species (long-term average of 101) were tallied. The species tally is the fourth highest ever, six shy of the record count of 119.
Most unusual, and new for the count, species included a Yellow Warbler found by Bob Curry, Barb Charlton and Rob Dobos at Turkey Pt. and a Spotted Sandpiper found by Michael Bradstreet on Long Pt. Both species were record late at Long Pt. by nearly 2 months. Other notable species seen included Red-necked Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Golden Eagle, Eastern Phoebe, White-eyed Vireo, and Brewer's Blackbird. High counts tallied were 3 Double-crested Cormorants, 1509 Gadwall, 1 Golden Eagle, 3580 American Coots, 442 Sandhill Cranes, 37 Eastern Screech-Owls, and 2 Northern Saw-whet Owls. 316 White-winged Crossbills and 349 Pine Siskins were a bit of a surprise. Surprisingly, (or perhaps not given recent trends) the eight Snowy Owls tallied exceeded the number of Great Horned Owls counted by one. As always, we are grateful to all of the counters who took part as well as to my wife Anne Marie for preparing a fabulous feast at the end of the day. All the best in 2012 Ron Ridout [email protected] _______________________________________________ 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/
