Brantfords Christmas bird count was held on Sunday December the 30th , with 24 count participants and 6 feeder watchers contributing to count totals for the day 9,548 individual birds of 60 species were noted , as well as 1 additional count week species , bringing our total to 61 , tying last years count number Of the 9,548 , 293 were from feeder watchers who combined had 11 hours The 24 feild observers spent a combined 59 hours in the field , 66.1 km walking and 244.6 in driving Temperatures remained fairly consistent throughout the day , ranging from -5 in the morning to a high of 0 degrees. Winds were nil to light throughout the day and the sky was cloudy with bouts of sun breaking through A light snow fell through the night , increasing the ability to spot our feathered freinds As well , most rivers and water bodies were icefree and unfrozen. A special thanks goes out to Shelia Smith for hosting a small luncheon , to all the new participants who attended the count , and as per usual , Bill and Sarah Lamond for their great count day observations , whom always make the list grow substantially. Highlights from the count are as follows : 3 Tufted Titmouse. 2 Common Ravens. 19 Carolina Wrens. 4 Turkey Vultures. 2 Iceland Gulls. 1 Lesser Black Backed Gull. 3 Ruby Crowned Kinglets. 30 Red Bellied Woodpeckers. And 2 count week White Crowned Sparrows. Notable misses were Snow Bunting , Northern Harrier , Mute Swan and Northern Flicker.
Full species list is as follows Bald Eagle 16 Red tailed hawk 55 Coopers hawk 9 Sharp shinned hawk 3 American kestrel 8 Merlin 1 Turkey vulture 4 Great horned owl 3 Eastern screech owl 2 Common raven 2 Common crow 116 Belted kingfisher 7 Great blue heron 6 Wild turkey 92 Hooded merganser 3 Common merganser 51 Bufflehead 4 Common goldeneye 108 Mallard duck 486 Black duck 54 Canada geese 1342 Herring gull 880 Ring billled gull 279 Iceland gull 2 Lesser black backed gull 1 Great black backed gull 80 Glaucous gull 4 Rock dove 512 Mourning dove 358 Red bellied woodpecker 30 Downy woodpecker 78 Hairy woodpecker 5 White b nuthatch 78 Red b nuthatch 9 Black capped chickadee 346 Brown creeper 10 Ruby cr kinglet 3 Golden cr kinglet 21 Tufted titmouse 3 Dark eyed junco 266 American robin 11 Eastern bluebird 34 Horned lark 9 Bluejay 148 N cardinal 192 House finch 135 Am goldfinch 260 Pine siskin 3 Carolina wren 19 Eastern towhee 2 Winter wren 2 European starling 3020 Brn hd cowbird 5 Northern shrike 1 House sparrow 274 Swamp sparrow 1 Song sparrow24 White th sparrow 36 White cr sparrow 2 Fox sparrow 1 Am tree sparrow 74 Compiler : Kevin Murphy _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca 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
