The 97th Hamilton Christmas Bird Count was held on December 26, 2017. Our count circle centres 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 quite unusual weather-wise for the Hamilton CBC. It was sunny all day, which the count has not seen in some time. Unfortunately, it was also the coldest count day in quite some years, with a high temperature of -13°C recorded at the Hamilton airport weather station. For the first couple hours of the morning, the winds held off any windchill factor, but later in the morning some light breezes came in. That said, while some had to cut their time short or stay home, for the most part Hamilton birders showed themselves to be quite winter-hardy! Seventy-eight counters spent just under 224 hours-effort to net 101 observed species on count day, plus another 3 during the count week, totaling a result of 104 species countable. The sum of all birds counted on the count day was 36,256 individuals, which is 19,715 below the 10-year average and 29,264 below the 25-year average. In fact, this was the lowest number of individual birds counted since 1977. This low number of birds is quite easily explained by this year's especially cold climate: normally open waterways were frozen completely, limiting the number of waterfowl species to be found within our count circle. While the overall population counted is a low point, there are some high points of note this year. A winter roost of Turkey Vultures were found within the count circle, setting a new record of 21 counted. In previous years this species was only seen in ones or twos, or just in count week. Being a rather social species, it is no surprise to see the new record number be so high compared to the previous records. The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker has made a surprise return in numbers to the Hamilton circle with 4 counted, in three distinctly different areas. In the past this species has only appeared on occasion, and never more than 2. This count also includes a feeder where a pair had been seen together this winter, although only one of the two appeared on count day. Bald Eagles made quite a showing on count day this year. With 18 independent observations, elimination of probable duplicate counts had to be done using notes given by counters as to age of the bird, time of day, and whether birds were solo or in a pair or group. This reduced the count by 6 to a dozen individuals, which itself is still a record count, beating the previous record of 11 in the 2013 count. Common Raven has also hit a record year this year, with 5 counted, beating the 2012 record of 4 birds. This species first appeared on the count in 2003, so is a relative newcomer. Despite low duck counts overall, one species managed a record level: Hooded Mergansers. With 192 counted, this just barely topped the 2015 record of 189. Five of the last six counts have been the only counts to have this species in triple digits, putting this species on a confirmed upward trend. A lone Kumlien's Gull (Iceland Gull subspecies) was observed for the first time since 1979, one of 5 Iceland Gulls counted this year. Additionally, a lone Oregon Junco (Dark-eyed Junco subspecies) was also seen in this count, the first since 2011. For those following the trends of previous Hamilton counts, you would know that the last few years has seen a constant rise in Carolina Wren, Wild Turkey, and Red-bellied Woodpecker. Of those, only the Red-bellied Woodpecker continued this trend into 2017, breaking records for a third consecutive year with a total of 102 seen, beating last year's record of 93 and the previous year's record of 84. The Carolina Wren fell well back this year, at 62 counted versus last year's record year of 91 counted. The species is still seen in many zones, but is fewer in numbers in the traditionally more populous zones this year. The Wild Turkey fell back from 113 last year to this year with 68 counted. Interestingly, this bird appeared in smaller groups this year, whereas last year populations were more concentrated into fewer, larger groups in the count. It should come as no surprise that there were no abnormal winter vagrants this year. With such a long-lasting bitterly cold weather system on top of us for so long, recently seen off-course species like Baltimore Oriole were not to be found. Additionally, with the 37° F isotherm being much further south from us this year, last year's record-setting American Robin numbers were cut to a tenth at 240 counted. In spite of bitterly cold temperatures, we still managed to find the two usual heron species, the Black-crowned Night-Heron and the Great Blue Heron. Unfortunately, one Great Blue was found dead and another was observed to be possibly injured. Each had a total of 3 living birds counted -- a ten year low for the Great Blue. For the second year in a row a Northern Goshawk was observed in the count circle, this time in downtown Hamilton of all places. You never know where some species might show up. There were a couple notable lows observed this year. Cedar Waxwing was markedly diminished, at 17 total counted. One has to go back to the early 1970s to find counts near this low. Additionally, the American Crow saw only 389 counted, a low not seen since the late 1950s. That said, a flock of nearly 300 was observed a couple days later within the circle, so this may be a case of circumstance. Northern Mockingbirds were scarce this year with only 6 observed, a low not seen since 1993. For winter finches, this year was better than many past. Purple Finches and Pine Siskin were counted in Dundas Valley CA, Common Redpolls in Iroquoia CA and Cootes Paradise, and a lone Evening Grosbeak was observed in Dundas near Cootes Paradise. Thank-you to everyone who participated in this year's count. A more complete and final report will be found in a future edition of the Hamilton Naturalists' Club journal, the Wood Duck. --- The numbers: Participants: 78 Hours-effort: 223.65 Taxonomical results: Species: 101 Spuhs/slashes: 5 (e.g. "gull sp." or "Cooper's/Sharp-shinned Hawk") Hybrid species: 1 (+1 CW) Count week species: 3 * = New highest record in count history (last 96 years) *25 = Highest count in last 25 years *10 = Highest count in last 10 years CW = Count Week species *10 Snow Goose 1 Canada Goose 6,649 Mute Swan 30 Trumpeter Swan 101 Wood Duck 1 Gadwall 45 American Wigeon 1 American Black Duck 359 Mallard 5,034 American Black Duck x Mallard (hybrid) 2 Northern Shoveler 151 Northern Pintail 5 Green-winged Teal 12 Canvasback 69 Redhead 36 Canvasback x Redhead (hybrid) CW Ring-necked Duck 17 Greater Scaup 1,378 Lesser Scaup 375 King Eider 1 Surf Scoter 5 White-winged Scoter 725 Black Scoter 5 Long-tailed Duck 3,465 Bufflehead 290 Common Goldeneye 2,180 * Hooded Merganser 192 Common Merganser 163 Red-breasted Merganser 136 Ruddy Duck 335 duck sp. 400 Wild Turkey 68 Red-throated Loon 1 Common Loon 5 *25 Horned Grebe 5 Double-crested Cormorant 44 Great Blue Heron 3 Black-crowned Night-Heron 3 * Turkey Vulture 21 *10 Northern Harrier 5 Sharp-shinned Hawk 5 Cooper's Hawk 13 Northern Goshawk 1 accipiter sp. 2 * Bald Eagle 12 Red-shouldered Hawk 1 Red-tailed Hawk 90 Rough-legged Hawk 1 American Coot 38 Ring-billed Gull 620 Herring Gull 312 Iceland Gull 4 * Iceland Gull (kumlieni) 1 Glaucous Gull 1 Great Black-backed Gull 58 gull sp. 8 Rock Pigeon 855 Mourning Dove 699 Eastern Screech-Owl 6 Great Horned Owl 2 Snowy Owl CW *10 Long-eared Owl 9 Short-eared Owl CW Belted Kingfisher 3 * Red-bellied Woodpecker 102 * Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 4 Downy Woodpecker 219 Hairy Woodpecker 87 Northern Flicker 3 Pileated Woodpecker 5 woodpecker sp. 1 American Kestrel 4 Merlin 4 Peregrine Falcon 1 Northern Shrike 1 Blue Jay 323 American Crow 389 * Common Raven 5 Horned Lark 20 Black-capped Chickadee 933 Tufted Titmouse 2 Red-breasted Nuthatch 26 White-breasted Nuthatch 137 Brown Creeper 14 Winter Wren 9 Carolina Wren 62 Golden-crowned Kinglet 22 Eastern Bluebird 23 American Robin 240 Northern Mockingbird 6 European Starling 2,829 Cedar Waxwing 17 Lapland Longspur CW Snow Bunting 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler 2 American Tree Sparrow 396 Dark-eyed Junco 1,061 Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) 1 White-crowned Sparrow 11 White-throated Sparrow 108 Song Sparrow 24 Swamp Sparrow 5 Northern Cardinal 546 Red-winged Blackbird 4 Brown-headed Cowbird 18 House Finch 289 Purple Finch 5 Common Redpoll 32 Pine Siskin 15 American Goldfinch 466 Evening Grosbeak 1 finch sp. 3 House Sparrow 2,721 TOTAL 36,256 -- 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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