The 30th annual Cedar Creek CBC (central Essex County) was held on December 20 and tallied 83 species and 18,676 individuals.
We recorded a good variety of water birds on the count as there is no ice on Lake Erie, and very little on local creeks and ditches. Highlights included a Red-throated Loon which has been present for many days at Kingsville Harbour (new for count), 19 Cackling Geese (record high count), 4,162 Red-breasted Mergansers (record high count with only 8 seen last year) 5 Horned Grebes (record high count), and 252 Wild Turkeys (record high count). Other good finds included 3 Killdeer, 2 Red-headed Woodpeckers, 1 Merlin, 1 Eastern Phoebe, 23 Tufted Titmice, 26 Carolina Wrens, 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and 2 Eastern Towhees. Our biggest miss was Purple Finch, a species found on all previous counts. Paul Pratt _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide
