The 33rd Petroglyphs Christmas Bird Count was held on Saturday, January 5, 2019 - a day with very pleasant weather. It was a very calm day (excellent listening conditions), temperature was hovering around 1 degree for most of the day, with mostly overcast skies.
Participants: 32 (above average) Total species: 34 (slightly higher than the 10-year average of 32.4 and a very good total given that there were few finch species present and virtually no open water for waterfowl, gulls, etc.) Total individuals: 2030 (10-year average is 2248) Notable species and high counts included: BARRED OWL: 8 (much higher than average and close to the high count of 11) BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER: 1 in the northern portion of the Kawartha Nordic Ski Trails (although previously recorded nearly every year this species has only been detected 4 times in the past 10 years) PILEATED WOODPECKER: 41 (new count high - previous high count was 30 in 2015) CANADA JAY: two birds were found in the northern portion of the Kawartha Nordic Ski Trails (until 2009 recorded annually but since then only recorded in 2014, during count period in 2016, and in 2017) BLUE JAY: 398 which was higher than expected given that only six were recorded in Algonquin (which often has similar trends to the Petroglyphs count). Many of these individuals were away from feeders suggesting that they were finding natural food sources - likely acorns of White and Red oak. WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH: 149 (well above the 10-year average of 76 and close to the all-time high count of 233 in 2014) BOHEMIAN WAXWING: 5 NORTHERN CARDINAL: 1 coming to a feeder in Apsley (4th time on the count) Low Counts: MOURNING DOVE: 6 (10-year average is 18 and count high is 93) BALD EAGLE: 2 (10-year average is 6 and count high is 14) BROWN CREEPER: 6 (10-year average is 13 and count high is 64) GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET: 7 (10-year average is 28 and count high is 120) AMERICAN TREE SPARROW: 5 (10-year average is 28 and count high is 218) Winter Finches: EVENING GROSBEAK: 121 PINE GROSBEAK: 6 COMMON REDPOLL: 59 RED CROSSBILL: 1 AMERICAN GOLDFINCH: 8 (very low - 10-year average is 163 and count high is 714) There were no notable misses. The count circle (including the 6 areas) can be viewed at the following link: https://maps.google.ca/maps/ms?msid=217208700112631695001.0004d125bfd0d20adc5de&msa=0&ll=44.660839,-77.950058&spn=0.2525,0.676346 Thanks to all participants! Colin Jones, Compiler Peterborough, ON _______________________________________________ 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
