The 96th Hamilton Christmas Bird Count was held on December 26, 2016. The count circle is centred upon Dundurn Castle, and is bounded by Christie Lake in the west, Lake Ontario in the east, lower East Flamborough in the north, and Hamilton International Airport in the south.
The count day was poor weather for counters, but decent weather for birds. The forecast threatened rain-out conditions but held off with mostly just light spitting rain until the mid-afternoon downpours. As a result a number of counters had to remain home or spend less hours counting, but the vast majority made it out and made an amazing effort to garner a higher count of birds and species than the year previous. In all, 86 participants spent just under 227 hours-effort to net 96 observed species on count day (plus another 8 within the count-week to total 104 countable). A total of 43,838 birds in all were counted, which is 13,186 below the 10-year average and 22,776 below the 25-year average. A number of new records were set in this year's count. One record that many other CBCs in southern and eastern Ontario may relate to was the shattering of the American Robin record, with a final tally of 2,499 counted -- just over 900 more than the previous record set in 2008. For waterfowl, a new record was set for White-winged Scoters, with 1,147 counted, beating a record from 2004 by about 100. Also, two Red-throated Loons were counted on the day, marking the first year we've had more than one of these on count day. For non-waterfowl fowl, the Wild Turkey has also seen a banner year, with 113 counted, our first three-digit turnout for this re-introduced species. Two surprise records made this year: the Tufted Titmouse, with 11 individuals counted, beating a record of 8 way back in 1963; and the Fox Sparrow which has been seen in only 1s or 2s throughout the count history broke the trends with a total of 6 counted this year. The Red-bellied Woodpecker is continuing its upward trends -- with a record count of 90 individuals. This species first saw double-digits in 2003 (and every year since) and shows no signs of relenting its upward trend. Of no surprise at all, the Carolina Wren has set a new record for a third year in a row, with 90 counted total this year, beating last year's record of 64. Also of note, this species is not just increasing populations within count zones that they were traditionally present, but being reported in zones that they had never appeared in before. This year's count also saw a couple rarities. A Gray Catbird was found in Dundas Valley Conservation Area, which we have not seen on count day since 2006. An American Pipit was found along the shores of Hamilton Harbour -- this species pops up every few years in the count, never more than one. A lone Orange-crowned Warbler made an appearance on count day at Lasalle Park in Burlington, however two others that had been seen previously (and has been refound since) in Bayfront Park did not make an appearance on count day. A Northern Goshawk was found just off Highway 5 west of Clappison's Corners on the count day. What did we miss this year? Not much, but a few things... Purple Finches made no appearances on count day or within the count week. Of the traditional "winter finches" the best we could do was some count-week Pine Siskins reported near Gage Park -- no redpolls or grosbeaks this year. Turkey Vultures were also missed -- though were noted within the circle a day before and a day after count week, and were seen skirting close but not within sight of the circle during count week. Some counters noted that in recent years some well-known large European Starling flocks have vanished, with counts for the species now in the low thousands rather than in the tens of thousands. Many duck species moved out of our circle before count day, and will hopefully be caught in the Peach Tree circle on January 2. Thanks to all the counters who year after year put up with the bad weather this count tends to get! The numbers: ------------ Participants: 86 Hours-effort: 226.85 hours Taxonomical results: Species: 96 Spuhs/slashes: 7 (e.g. "gull sp." or "Cooper's/Sharp-shinned Hawk") Hybrid species: 1 Count week species: 8 * = New highest record in count history (last 95 years) ** = Highest count in last 25 years *** = Highest count in last 10 years CW = Count Week species Canada Goose 3,460 Mute Swan 90 Trumpeter Swan 177 *** Tundra Swan 78 Wood Duck CW Gadwall 81 *** American Black Duck 468 Mallard 3,466 American Black Duck x Mallard (hybrid) 1 Northern Shoveler 177 Northern Pintail 5 Green-winged Teal 18 Canvasback 73 *** Redhead 143 *** Ring-necked Duck 172 Greater Scaup 2,875 Lesser Scaup 892 King Eider CW Harlequin Duck CW Surf Scoter 62 * White-winged Scoter 1,147 Black Scoter 6 Long-tailed Duck 4,510 Bufflehead 510 Common Goldeneye 2,094 Hooded Merganser 163 Common Merganser 567 Red-breasted Merganser 126 Ruddy Duck 25 duck sp. 5 * Wild Turkey 113 * Red-throated Loon 2 Common Loon 2 Pied-billed Grebe 3 ** Horned Grebe 2 Red-necked Grebe 6 Double-crested Cormorant 86 Great Blue Heron 8 Black-crowned Night-Heron 5 Northern Harrier CW Sharp-shinned Hawk 3 Cooper's Hawk 19 Northern Goshawk 1 accipiter sp. 1 Bald Eagle 3 Red-tailed Hawk 98 Rough-legged Hawk 2 hawk sp. 1 American Coot 118 Ring-billed Gull 1,158 Herring Gull 824 Lesser Black-backed Gull 1 Glaucous Gull 3 Great Black-backed Gull 85 gull sp. 82 Rock Pigeon 2,172 Mourning Dove 916 Eastern Screech-Owl 4 Great Horned Owl 4 Long-eared Owl CW owl sp. 1 Belted Kingfisher 5 * Red-bellied Woodpecker 90 Downy Woodpecker 234 Hairy Woodpecker 83 Northern Flicker 6 Pileated Woodpecker 11 woodpecker sp. 1 American Kestrel 7 Merlin 5 Peregrine Falcon 3 Northern Shrike 1 Blue Jay 324 American Crow 638 Common Raven 1 Horned Lark CW Black-capped Chickadee 1,471 * Tufted Titmouse 11 Red-breasted Nuthatch 28 White-breasted Nuthatch 264 Brown Creeper 7 Winter Wren 19 * Carolina Wren 90 Golden-crowned Kinglet 23 Eastern Bluebird 33 *** Hermit Thrush 7 * American Robin 2,499 Gray Catbird 1 Northern Mockingbird 15 European Starling 4,116 American Pipit 1 Cedar Waxwing 438 *** Snow Bunting 290 Orange-crowned Warbler 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler CW American Tree Sparrow 555 * Fox Sparrow 6 Dark-eyed Junco 1,234 White-crowned Sparrow 7 White-throated Sparrow 49 Song Sparrow 37 Swamp Sparrow 3 Northern Cardinal 588 *** Red-winged Blackbird 34 Rusty Blackbird 2 Common Grackle 1 Brown-headed Cowbird 29 House Finch 280 Pine Siskin CW American Goldfinch 685 finch sp. 20 House Sparrow 2,531 TOTAL 43,898 -- Robert Gerald Porter Hamilton Naturalists' Club / Field Events Director Weever Apps / Chief Innovation Officer, Co-founder http://twitter.com/rgeraldporter _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) - the provincial birding organization. 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