We had heavy snowfall starting in the evening on the 15th and continuing into the morning on count day Saturday Dec 17, leaving over 35 cm of snow. Despite that, it became a beautiful winter day with temperatures around zero, no wind and a hint of sunshine. Rivers were partially frozen, some ponds had a bit of open water and the road conditions were good. The 48 participants travelled a total of 848 km spending a total of 133 hours.
58 species were counted on count day and another staggering 11 species were added during count week raising the total to 69 species, a record high for ONRI. 15.877 individual birds were counted on count day vs a high of 19.258 in 2020. The ONRI species list now stands at 81 species, 87 species when including count week. Count day produced 3 first records: Lesser Scaup, Carolina Wren and a Hermit Thrush. Lesser BB Gull, Northern Harrier and Red-bellied Woodpecker were also firsts on count day, having previously been seen only during count week. And three more regionally rare species were found for the first time during count week: Northern Shoveler, American Three-toed Woodpecker, and Northern Mockingbird. 14 record high counts were set this year and the 5 most noteworthy species that shattered previous records by a wide margin were: 87 Horned Larks (vs a previous high of just 5), 745 Herring Gulls (vs 191), 6.950 European Starlings (vs 2,173), 13 Iceland Gulls (vs 2), and 12 Cooper’s Hawks (vs 6). On the low side, just 6 owls of 3 species were found this year, versus 21 owls of 5 species last year. Count organizers Nina Stavlund, Tony Beck & Pete Blancher thank Derek Dunnett, Tobi Kiesewalter, Erik Pohanka & Alexis Williams for their leadership in ONRI sectors. Thanks also goes to Janet Clark for hosting the compilation. Nina Stavlund ONRI Organizer -- 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.
