Another Christmas bird count is in the books.
It’s a tradition that dates back 62 years here in the Sault and is part of an international effort in North America.
Dave Euler along with Carter Dorscht helped organize the local count which Euler says this year involved over 50 participants from December 15th to January 1st.
The number of birds counted was over 61-hundred with 59 different species spotted including for the first time the lesser black-backed gull.
That’s similar to the 10-year average of 60 species counted—the all time high is 71.
Euler talks about some other results…

Euler says the local data will now be forwarded to be analysed as part of a North American wide effort…

There were some rare birds spotted in the annual Christmas bird count in Desbarats.
The rarest bird spotted according to organizer Carter Dorscht was the Varied Thrush which is a bird more commonly found in BC.
Others of note, were the Horned Lark and the Red Winged blackbird which is more commonly found in southern Ontario.
This year there were 17 bird watchers that participated and the number of birds overall spotted and the total species count was similar to past years.
40 different bird species were spotted out of the over 22-hundred birds observed.

 

 

Desbarats Bird Count Results (Supplied by the Kensington Conservancy…

Canada Goose – 3
Mallard – 1
Hooded Merganser – cw
Ring-necked Pheasant – cw
Ruffed Grouse – 5
Sharp-tailed Grouse – 9
Wild Turkey – 181
Rock Pigeon – 80
Mourning Dove – 52
Bald Eagle – 8
Red-tailed Hawk – cw
Rough-legged Hawk – 3
Snowy Owl – cw
Barred Owl – 1
Great Gray Owl – cw
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 4
Downy Woodpecker – 23
Hairy Woodpecker – 38
Pileated Woodpecker – 9
Northern Shrike – 4
Blue Jay – 166
American Crow – 62
Common Raven – 164
Horned Lark – 4*
Black-capped Chickadee – 534
Boreal Chickadee – 1**
Red-breasted Nuthatch – 17
White-breasted Nuthatch – 40
Golden-crowned Kinglet – 2
Varied Thrush – 1**
European Starling – 221
Evening Grosbeak – 106
Pine Grosbeak – 77
Common Redpoll – 315
Red Crossbill – 4
American Goldfinch – 87
Snow Bunting – 29
Northern Cardinal – 6
Red-winged Blackbird – cw*
House Sparrow – 20*rare for the time of the year
**rare year-round
Field Observers – 17
Field Effort (hours) – 39.2
Field Distance (km) – 476.2
Feeders Watchers – 21
Feeders Observed – 14
Feeder Effort (hours) – 72.5Total Species on Count Day – 34
Additional Count Week Species – 6
Total Species – 40
Total Birds – 2286Please note that these numbers are not yet finalized and are subject to change.