The results are pretty much finalised for the Kingston CBC that was held on Sunday 18th December 2016. The Christmas circle is centred on the tip of Garden Island and covers the entire west end of Wolfe Island to the south, and all of Kingston from the west end out to the Howe Island ferry in the east. It extends north above the 401 to include Little Cataraqui Creek CA and Kingston Mills.
The day started off with extremely hazardous road conditions that delayed the start for many, particularly on Wolfe Island. Conditions slowly improved over the day with temperatures rising from -5°C to -1°C. Wind speeds of up to 30km/h were noted from the NW and all inland water bodies were frozen after a week of extremely cold temperatures. However, Lake Ontario was still open allowing several sectors to pick up a variety of waterfowl. With alternating freezing rain, snow, more freezing rain, snow, rain, then sunshine, as well as up to 30cm of snow cover, 49 field participants and 11 feeder watchers contributed to a successful day tallying 97 species at days end. This is still 6 below the 20 year average of 103 but 13 up on last years record low of just 84 species. DETAILS: Total species 97 + 2 count week additions (Turkey Vulture and Yellow-rumped Warbler). Count week species are additional species seen on the 3 days before or after count day (18th). Total individuals 34397 (20 year average 50242) Participants 49 in the field, 11 at feeders NEW SPECIES Eurasian Collared Dove RECORD/EQUAL HIGH (last 20 years) Harlequin Duck 2 (2) Ruddy Duck 2 (2) Double-crested Cormorant 8 (8) Lesser Black-backed Gull 1 (1) Barred Owl 4 (3) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1 (1) Peregrine falcon 2 (2) American Robin 1036 (431) Northern Mockingbird 1 (1) Fox Sparrow 4 (2) Dark-eyed Junco 340 (263) White-throated Sparrow 23 (18) American Goldfinch 309 (247) RECORD/EQUAL LOW (last 20 years) American Black Duck 215 (previous low 345, av. 1218) Northern Pintail 1 (previous low 1, av. 21) Red-tailed Hawk 11 (previous low 13, av. 43) Rock Pigeon 627 (previous low 647, av. 1246) Swamp Sparrow 2 (previous low 2, av. 12) Northern Cardinal 32 (previous low 32, av. 54) NOTABLE RECORDS ABOVE AVERAGE (20 years) Snow Goose 95 (av. 11) Mute Swan 98 (av. 26). This species has seen a big increase in the last 10 years. Trumpeter Swan 6 (av. 0.5) Long-tailed Duck 1320 (av. 540) Wild Turkey 185 (av. 89) Snow Bunting 1246 (av. 625) NOTABLE RECORDS BELOW AVERAGE (20 years) American Wigeon 26 (av. 95) Mallard 2004 (av. 8395) Green-winged Teal 2 (av. 12) Canvasback 2 (av. 7) Redhead 597 (av. 1416) Lesser Scaup 16 (av. 389) White-winged Scoter 2 (av. 11) Bufflehead 73 (av. 348) Common Merganser 193 (av. 1744) Ruffed Grouse 1 (av. 4) Common Loon 2 (av. 6) Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 (av. 3) Rough-legged Hawk 5 (av. 22). None seen on Wolfe Island this year all records from the mainland. American Coot 25 (av. 85) Ring-billed Gull 266 (av. 514) Herring Gull 107 (av. 363) Great Black-backed Gull 19 (av. 69) Great Horned Owl 3 (av. 9) American Kestrel 4 (av. 11) Northern Shrike 1 (av. 5) Golden-crowned Kinglet 13 (av. 34) Cedar Waxwing 32 (av. 84) Lapland Longspur 1 (av. 34) Song Sparrow 8 (av. 25). This species has seen a big decline in the last 10 years. Brown-headed Cowbird 1 (av. 8) House finch 46 (av. 238). Declining over the last 20 years. Purple Finch 3 (av. 9) Common Redpoll 1 (av. 197) House Sparrow 163 (av. 664). Declining over the last 20 years. NOTABLE MISSES Black Scoter (previous low 0 (just once in last 20 years), av. 3) Northern Harrier (previous low 1, av. 19) Bonapartes Gull (previous low 0 (just once in last 20 years), av. 49) OTHER NOTABLES Pied-billed Grebe 5th record (last 20 years) Savannah Sparrow 8th record (last 20 years) FULL TALLY A full checklist will soon be available on the CBC website: http://netapp.audubon.org/CBCObservation/CurrentYear/ResultsByCount.aspx. Please enter ONKG as the Count Code, Ontario as the State/Province and Canada as the country. AND FINALLY, a big thank you to all the section leaders, participants, landowners and others who made the count so enjoyable. David Okines I stole your format as it suits my style Mark. Mark D. Read 337 Button Bay Road, Wolfe Island, Kingston, Ontario K0H 2Y0 Canada Mobile: +1 (613) 217-1246 Home: +1 (613) 385-1651 Email: [email protected] Blog: Confessions of a Global Birder http://markdread.blogspot.com <http://markdread.blogspot.com/> Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/markdread/ eBird Guidelines for Reporting Sensitive Species <http://help.ebird.org/customer/portal/articles/1006789-guidelines-for-repor ting-sensitive-species> _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) - 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 Visit the OFO Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists
