The Saugeen Shores CBC was held on Friday, January 2,2015. Winds were light (up to 15 km) andthere was minimal snow cover. This was apleasant change to the snow squalls the day before and we were pleased when thesun visited us for part of the afternoon. The Lake Huron shoreline was ice free. There were good-sized waves on Lake Huron, however, most of the inlandlakes had a thin layer of ice and the streams and rivers were primarily frozenexcept in areas of greater water flow. Atotal of 35 people participated in the CBC. In total we saw over 11,000 individual birds and 55 species. This is just above the average number ofspecies for the count. An unusual datefor an Eastern Towhee at a feeder in Southampton was recorded. Although there was a lot of open water onLake Huron the number of ducks and duck species anticipated was low. The number of Bald Eagles (35) was high butnot the highest it has been, Golden Eagles are consistently found along theSaugeen River (3), most finch species were either absent or in lower numbers,Snowy Owls were above average at 11 sightings, 3655 Canada Geese was well aboveaverage, while House Sparrow and European Starling were both well belowaverage.
Thank you to all who participated in the count. Norah Toth The Huron Fringe Birding Festival is a birding and nature event which runs for two four-day weekends between May 22 and May 31, 2015. Registration begins February 1, 2015 at www.friendsofmacgregor.org Follow our blog: http://huronfringefest.wordpress.com twitter: @HuronBirdfest _______________________________________________ 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

