Hi everyone,
The 10th Linwood CBC was held today (December 28th). Overall, the weather was not specifically conducive for the count, particularly with respect to the strong winds from the north and east throughout the entire day, however, the freezing rain/mixed precipitation did not hit until dusk. A record high, 58 species were seen on count day, with an additional 5 species recorded to-date within the count-week period. Total number of individuals were also a high, with 20,628 individuals recorded (average is 11,235), largely owing to open water of Conestogo Lake and the high number of gulls present. Four new species for the count were found today, plus an additional new specie seen during the count-week period; this brings the cumulative species total to 91. Green-winged Teal – 1 female at Conesotogo Lake Northern Shoveler – 1 bird along the Conestogo River Thayer’s Gull – 1 first-basic at Conestogo Lake Sandhill Crane – 199 birds seen in 3 flocks (57, 140, 2) throughout Canvasback – 6 birds seen at Conestogo Lake on Dec. 25 (count-week) Unusual species: American Wigeon (3rd), Northern Pintail (2nd), Hooded Merganser (2nd), Red-breasted Merganser (2nd), Lesser Black-backed Gull (2nd), Iceland Gull (2nd). Raptor numbers: the Linwood CBC was started as a way to document raptor populations in the area, with count participants mapping all locations. Bald Eagle – 8 (new high count) Northern Harrier – 21 (this is very high for the count; usually a challenging species to get on the CBC) Sharp-shinned Hawk – 4 (average) Cooper’s Hawk – 5 (average) Red-tailed Hawk – 77 (low, but I was surprised at how high the number was) Rough-legged Hawk – 44 (the counts lowest by a long-shot; very interesting at how few are around) American Kestrel – 2 (this is a low count, there are more birds around, however, the weather no doubt was not conducive) Eastern Screech-Owl – 11 (decent count for the weather) Great Horned Owl – 1 Snowy Owl – 5 Gull and waterfowl numbers, overall were very high, while woodpeckers, and raptors were in much lower numbers; likely due to the weather conditions, both during the count today and in the weeks leading up to the count. Thanks to all the counters we had this year and especially to my parents who hosted the post-count meal and compilation. For more information or if you find any "good" species in the count circle between now and December 31, please contact me privately. Here is a map showing the location of the Linwood and all other Canadian Christmas Bird Counts: http://www.birdscanada.org/volunteer/cbc/index.jsp?targetpg=mapviewer&lang=EN Happy New Years! Ken Burrell [email protected] http://burrellbirding.ca/ _______________________________________________ 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
