Brantfords 9th annual Christmas bird count was held on sunday January the 3rd. 38 social distanced field observers and 10 feeder watchers participated this year , making it our best participation yet , and thus contributing to our highest count to date at 74 species , with 4 additional count week species The mornings weather was less than ideal , and visibility due to a heavy snowfall made things a little trickier , and many participants were soaked to the core by 11 or 12, which comes with the territory of a christmas bird count . Temperatures ranged from -1 to +1 , with light winds at times , while waterbodies remained mostly ice free The afternoon turned into a sunny perfect winters january day In total , 15 , 805 total birds were counted Previous snowfall was minimal Highlights of the count were as follows 3 peregrine falcons 1 Savannah sparrow 1 Yellow Bellied Sapsucker 1 Red Necked Grebe 7 Tufted Titmice 1 Wood Duck 1 Hermit thrush 881 common redpolls ( 1 Hoary ) 3 Northern Harriers ( first for count ) Complete species and numbers list is as follows Bald Eagle 10 Peregrine Falcon 3 Red Tailed Hawk 90 Rough Legged Hawk 2 Coopers Hawk 9 Sharp Shinned Hawk 2 Merlin 1 American Kestrel 4 Northern Harrier 3 Turkey vulture 1 Eastern Screech Owl 1 Great Horned Owl 6 Common Raven 3 American Crow 202 Mourning Dove 1334 Rock Pigeon 561 Herring Gull 1579 Ring Billed Gull 19 Great Black Backed Gull 27 Iceland Gull 8 Glaucous Gull 1 Belted Kingfisher 7 Wild Turkey 96 Mute Swan 1 Red Necked Grebe 1 Canada Goose 3528 Mallard Duck 701 Am Black Duck 90 Wood Duck 1 Bufflehead 31 Greater Scaup 1 Common Merganser 280 Hooded Merganser 5 Common Goldeneye 591 Cackling Goose 6 Great Blue Heron 7 Yellow Bellied Sapsucker 1 Downy Woodpecker 87 Hairy Woodpecker 36 Red Bellied Woodpecker 50 Pileated Woodpecker 6 Northern Shrike 3 American Robin47 Eastern Bluebird 30 Hermit Thrush 1 Brown Creeper 11 White Breasted Nuthatch 98 Red Breasted Nuthatch 22 Black Capped Chickadee433 Dark Eyed Junco 604 Golden Crowned Kinglet 7 Ruby Crowned Kinglet 1 American Goldfinch 361 House Finch 101 Pine Siskin 43 Common Redpoll 881 Hoary Redpoll 1 Northern Cardinal 330 Bluejay 196 Carolina Wren 21 Winter Wren 2 Tufted Titmouse 7 Fox Sparrow 2 White Crowned Sparrow 30 White Throated Sparrow 20 Song Sparrow 56 Swamp Sparrow 5 Savannah Sparrow 1 American Tree sparrow 314 House Sparrow 541 Brown Headed Cowbird 7 European Starling 2098 Horned Lark 34 Snow Bunting 113 Count week species : Trumpeter Swan Red Breasted Merganser Lesser Black Backed Gull Northern Flicker Compiler Kevin G Murphy -- Ontbirds and Birdnews are moderated email Listservs provided by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) as a service to all birders in Ontario. Birdnews is reserved for announcements, location summaries, first of year reports, etc. To post a message on Birdnews, send an email to: [email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns, contact the Birdnews Moderators by email at [email protected]. Please review posting rules and guidelines at http://ofo.ca/site/content/listserv-guidelines To edit your membership settings visit the Birdnews setup page at: http://ontbirds.ca/mailman/listinfo/birdnews_ontbirds.ca. During the COVID-19 pandemic, all Ontario birders should be taking extra precautions and following local, provincial, and federal regulations regarding physical distancing and non-essential travel. To find out more about OFO, please visit our website at ofo.ca or Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists.
