The Holiday Beach CBC took place on Wednesday, December 27th. The count includes Holiday Beach Conservation Area, Big Creek, the Lower Detroit River north to LaSalle, Boblo Island and surrounding areas. Unfortunately, Boblo Island continues to be inaccessible due to construction on the island but the rest of the count circle received good coverage. 26 participants volunteered for the count, tallying a record-breaking 90 species and 54,933 individual birds (previous record for the count was 80 species). Trumpeter Swan and American Coot were added during Count Week.
Skies were cloudy throughout the day w/ light drizzle in the early morning and in the late afternoon. Winds were light to moderate and temperatures ranged from 5C to 10C. Mild temperatures leading up to the count meant the entire area had open water resulting in higher than usual waterfowl counts and a few late species lingering in the area. Three new species were added to the count this year: American Goshawk American Woodcock Red-headed Woodpecker Waterfowl highlights included 2 Snow Geese, 4 Cackling Geese, 27 Northern Shoveler (record high), 3,143 Mallard (good count), 364 American Black Duck (record high), 15 Northern Pintail (often missed), 40,501 Canvasback (record high), 43 Ring-necked Duck (often missed), 108 Bufflehead (good count), 208 Red-breasted Merganser (good count), 2 Long-tailed Ducks (rare for the count) and 4 scoter sp. (rare for the count). Other highlights included 11 Sandhill Crane (often missed), 123 Bonaparte's Gull (good count), 1 Killdeer (rare for the count), 1 Long-eared Owl (sometimes missed), 1 Peregrine Falcon (often missed), 1 Northern Shrike (often missed), 1 Marsh Wren (often missed), 1 House Wren (rare for the count) 1 Brown Thrasher (rare for the count), 1 Field Sparrow (often missed), 1 Eastern Meadowlark (rare for the count), 25 Rusty Blackbird (often missed), 1 Purple Finch (often missed), and 3 Pine Siskin (often missed). Several record high counts were also broken or tied this year (previous record in brackets): Northern Shoveler - 27 (21) American Black Duck - 364 (268) Canvasback - 40,501 (11,326) Ring-necked Duck - 43 (6) Killdeer - 1 (1) American Robin - 145 (97) Fox Sparrow - 9 (3) Many thanks to all the Area Leaders and volunteers for their efforts and to Kory and Sarah Renaud for hosting another excellent roundup! Jeremy Hatt & Kory Renaud -- 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.
