Hello all, A very preliminary CBC result from about half of our 40 parties. We have about the 14th biggest participation of all Counts, with about 125 or more each year, including many feeders. With so many parties and participants, it takes a while to get them all so I will update if any other unusual birds show up.
Our temperature ranged from -5 to -2 and there were snow flurries for much of the morning and overcast for much of the afternoon. The snow was deep enough to cause slow going on the walking routes. More birds than usual reported so far from feeders. Most still water was frozen and most of the side creeks and even parts of the Thames were frozen over. The open water was at Greenway, where one of our Treatment Centres is located, and in Springbank Park, and a few other areas, where the water has good flow. So a good number of common waterfowl were located, including vast numbers of Mallard and Canada Geese, thousands of each. A few Cackling Geese were reported from the Forks area. A number of high flocks of Canada Geese were noted heading southwest and a flock of 35 Snow Geese were also seen. For now, the most unusual ones include a Vesper Sparrow, seen north of London near the corner of Bear Creek Road and Vanneck Road, Middlesex County. And a Wilson's Snipe was found along the Komoka Creek west of London. A juvenile Northern Goshawk was a flyover near the Dingman Creek. Also noted were two Pintails at Springbank Park near the old Pumphouse and one in Greenway Park. Several White-crowned Sparrow were also noted here and there. A Merlin was noted south of London and another in Greenway Park. Four or five Great Blue Herons continue to linger along the Thames River. Our Bald Eagle count will be very high this year, and compiling who saw which ones will be tough, but it should approach 20 or more. We have four active nests in the Count Circle. Several large groups of 4 or 5 birds were noted from widely dispersed areas. No winter finches so far, nor any lingering blackbird species. Any more highlights will be posted from the many other parties and then will know the trends. About 60 species so far. Happy Christmas Bird Counts Pete _______________________________________________ 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
