Fellow Birders: The 8th Collingwood CBC was held on 28 December 2015. It was mostly cloudy, windy (to 40 km/hr), around -10o C, with little snow cover. Nearly all water was still open, with swells on Georgian Bay.
Fifteen birders tallied 55 species for the day, which was about three species above average, but well below our highest of 63. Waterfowl are a highlight of this count due to the many bays and coves along Georgian Bay. We recorded 20 species of ducks, geese and swans. Three (Horned Grebe, Gray Catbird and Song Sparrow) additional count week birds were also found. Our total of 5537 individuals was below our average of 6514, but not our lowest number. There were four new species for the count, with one each of American Wigeon, Canvasback and Black Scoter. Nine Pine Siskins (long-overdue) were also recorded for the first time. This brings the cumulative total since 2002 to 91 species. For the first time ever, no owls were found (despite nearly five hours of pre-dawn owling). Diurnal raptors were generally scarce as well. There were new high totals for the following five species (previous high) Gadwall - 7 (5) Mallard - 1133 (1032) Ring-necked Duck - 4 (1) Hooded Merganser - 8 (5) Dark-eyed Junco - 100 (82) Tied high counts were for: Harlequin Duck - 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1 Pileated Woodpecker - 2 White-crowned Sparrow - 1 Record lows included Wild Turkey (5), Red-tailed Hawk (5), Herring Gull (61), Rock Pigeon (121) and European Starling (293). Thanks again to all who participated Burke Korol - compiler Barrie, ON --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus _______________________________________________ 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
