The 14th Saugeen Shores Christmas Bird Count took place on Wednesday,January 3, 2018 with 28 people participating and 10 feeder watchers.
The weather threatened white out conditions and it wasdetermined that in order to get people home earlier, we would finish the day at3 pm. A southwest wind had speeds from25 to 44 kilometres. Snow depths were listed as 45 cm with an additional 6 cmduring the day. Visibility ranged from good to fair to poor. Highway 21 south of Port Elgin remainedclosed for part of the day. Creeks and inlandlakes were frozen; the Saugeen River had a small amount of open water. The temperature was between -11 and -14 Celsiusduring the count. We found a total of 3504 individual birds; representing49 species which is below the average of 53. No species were new to the count so the cumulative total remains at 102species. Of interest is an Oregon Junco which was photographed at thesame feeder where one was recorded during the 2017 count. Some totals that may be interesting, are Snowy Owl (15), Brown-headedCowbird (6, high for the count), Common Redpoll (40), American Goldfinch (733, 2ndhighest for the count), House Sparrow (3, low for the count). Thank you to all the participants, some of whom traveleda distance to help. Their time, effortand skills were greatly appreciated. Norah Toth Compiler Norah Toth, Chair Huron Fringe Birding Festival _______________________________________________ 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
