The 35th Petroglyphs Christmas Bird Count was held on Thursday, December 30th, 2021 - a day with very pleasant weather. It was calm throughout most of the day (excellent listening conditions). Temperatures were very mild hovering around zero for most of the day, with mostly overcast skies.
There was open water on some lakes and so a few species of waterbirds were detected (which is not normally the case). There was also excellent diversity of winter finches. Participants: 37 (above average) Total species: 41 (a new count high - previous high was 40 in 2015, a year with plenty of open water and 8 species of waterbirds recorded) Total individuals: 3944 (a new count high - previous high was 3932) There were several notable species and high count as follows: HOODED MERGANSER: 1 (5th time recorded on the count) COMMON MERGANSER: 7 (6th time recorded on the count) ROCK PIGEON: 156 (new count high - previous high was 120 in 2020) COMMON LOON: 4 (new count high - previous high was 2 in 2015 - and only 4th time recorded on the count) RED-TAILED HAWK: 9 (near count high of 10) DOWNY WOODPECKER: 52 (near count high of 54) WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH: 194 (near count high of 233) WINTER WREN: 5 (new count high - previous high was 2 in 2015 - and only 6th time recorded on the count) HERMIT THRUSH: 1 (NEW FOR THE COUNT) Low Counts: MOURNING DOVE: 2 (a near miss; this species has been recorded every year since 1995 with a 10-year average of 7.3 and count high of 93) BLUE JAY: 95 (10-year average is 282 and count high is 653) Winter Finches: EVENING GROSBEAK: 69 PINE GROSBEAK: 12 PURPLE FINCH: 19 COMMON REDPOLL: 537 (new count high - previous high was 420 in 2003) HOARY REDPOLL: 1 (a single bird was among a large flock of Common Redpoll) RED CROSSBILL: 84 WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL: 133 PINE SISKIN: 135 AMERICAN GOLDFINCH: 727 (new count high - previous high was 714 in 2000) Misses: BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER: once a nearly annual species on this count, it has only been recorded 3 times over the past 10 years. CANADA JAY: another once annual species but only recorded 4 times over the past 10 years. 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<https://can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmaps.google.ca%2Fmaps%2Fms%3Fmsid%3D217208700112631695001.0004d125bfd0d20adc5de%26msa%3D0%26ll%3D44.660839%2C-77.950058%26spn%3D0.2525%2C0.676346&data=04%7C01%7Ccolin.jones%40ontario.ca%7C63343925449145c3040d08d8b035d484%7Ccddc1229ac2a4b97b78a0e5cacb5865c%7C0%7C0%7C637453092536231739%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=aWMwU83bPCMjXKhPmVHa9cn6spnBmW0BKdkGnO3NodI%3D&reserved=0> Thanks to all participants! Colin Jones, Compiler Peterborough, ON -- 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 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.
