The results are now finalised for the 70th Kingston CBC, held on Sunday 17th December 2017. The Christmas circle is centred on the tip of Garden Island and covers the entire west end of Wolfe Island and all of Kingston from the west end out to the tip of Howe Island in the east. It extends north above the 401 to include Little Cataraqui Creek CA and Kingston Mills.
With 10-15cm of snow already on the ground, the day started off very cold at -22°C rising to just -13°C by the end of the day. Skies were mainly clear, though rising mist off Lake Ontario (the only open water) cut visibility to little more than 50-100m over the water in most areas. A light but bitter N to NE wind brought with it a noticeable wind chill but 50 field participants and 5 feeder watchers braved the conditions tallying 82 species at days end. This was way below the 20 year average of 103 species and beats the previous lowest Kingston count of 84 set in 2015. We also recorded the lowest number of individual birds at just 16910 (av. 50960). DETAILS: Total species 82 + 3 count week additions (Wood Duck, Black Scoter, and Barred Owl). Total individuals 16910 (20 year average 50960) Participants 50 in the field, 5 at feeders NEW SPECIES None NOTABLE FINDS Surf Scoter 8th record (last 20 years) Northern Goshawk 10th record (last 20 years - first since 2011) Eastern Bluebird 8th record (last 20 years) Hermit Thrush 9th record (last 20 years) Savannah Sparrow 9th record (last 20 years) NOTABLE MISSES Green-winged Teal (missed 3 times in 20 years, av. 11) Canvasback (missed 6 times in 20 years, av. 6) Bonapartes Gull (missed twice in 20 years, av. 49) Iceland Gull (missed 6 times in 20 years, av. 1) Brown-headed Cowbird (missed 3 times in 20 years, av. 8) Purple Finch (missed 3 times in 20 years, av. 9) RECORD/EQUAL HIGH (last 20 years) Mute Swan 199 (126, av. 31) Red-breasted Nuthatch 30 (25, av. 9) Winter Wren 8 (4, av. 2) Northern Cardinal 87 (86, av. 53) 2016 saw a record low of 32 RECORD/EQUAL LOW (last 20 years) American Black Duck 55 (215, av. 1210) Mallard 1300 (1807, av. 8413) Northern Pintail 1 (1, av. 19) Ring-billed Gull 44 (46, av. 501) Great Black-backed Gull 3 (13, av. 62) Rock Pigeon (feral) 507 (627, av. 1227) NOTABLE RECORDS ABOVE AVERAGE (20 years) Bald Eagle 27 (av. 13) Snowy Owl 19 (av. 10) Blue Jay 320 (av. 202) Common Raven 12 (av. 6) Dark-eyed Junco 294 (2nd highest count, av. 140) White-throated Sparrow 22 (av. 6) Rusty Blackbird 4 (av. 1) NOTABLE RECORDS BELOW AVERAGE (20 years) Canada Goose 4363 (2nd lowest count, av. 19960) American Wigeon 21 (av. 96) Redhead 225 (av. 1446) Greater Scaup 898 (av. 2547) Lesser Scaup 3 (av. 390) American Coot 33 (av. 86) Herring Gull 158 (av. 330) American Kestrel 4 (av. 11) European Starling 1922 (av. 2541) Red-winged Blackbird 3 (av. 9) House Sparrow 155 (av. 624). Noticeable decline over the last 20 years. FULL TALLY A full checklist will soon be available on the CBC website: http://netapp.audubon.org/CBCObservation/CurrentYear/ResultsByCount.aspx. Please enter ONKG as the Count Code, Ontario as the State/Province and Canada as the country. AND FINALLY, a big thank you to all the section leaders, participants, landowners and others who made the count so enjoyable. Mark. Mark D. Read 337 Button Bay Road, Wolfe Island, Kingston, Ontario K0H 2Y0 Canada Mobile: +1 (613) 217-1246 Email: <mailto:markdr...@gmail.com> markdr...@gmail.com eBird Guidelines for Reporting Sensitive Species <http://help.ebird.org/customer/portal/articles/1006789-guidelines-for-repor ting-sensitive-species> _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca 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
