Hey there, Sorry for the delay, but with me doing other Counts, and having about 35 parties and many feeders, it takes a while to compile as you would guess.
Saturday's Count was typical of several of the counts in the area in having birds spread out and not lingering at feeders, so harder to locate. Fewer individuals reported but average for species so far. We have 73 species reported. Most of the likely candidates appeared. Highlights included many waterfowl, 16 species, great for an inland count, as the ponds and lakes were open. Three Cackling Geese were reported. It is only the third time for that species. Ruddy Duck, Greater Scaup, Ring-necked Duck, etc, Coot, Pied-billed Grebe and about 28 Wood Duck(including a flock of 22 and one of 6 which totally smashes our usual 1 or 2 for high numbers of that species). Also, a group of 3 Sandhill Crane flew over at high altitude, for one party, which is our second only record for that species in over 100 years of doing the London Count. Our London dump had singles of Lesser Black-backed, Iceland and Glaucous Gull. One Titmouse was reported as well as one N. Mockingbird. A single Red-winged Blackbird was the only Icterid species reported so far. Two warbler species included Yellow-rumped and Common Yellowthroat. The only winter finches included a few groups of redpolls and siskins. No Snow Buntings nor Lapland Longspurs and few Horned Lark. Not your typical winter for birds at this point. More later as I get in more results. Pete Read _______________________________________________ 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/
