Common Loons © Mike MacLeod
2008 Christmas Bird Count Report
Count Day: December 26, 2008
December 26, 2008 (Boxing Day) was very benign weather wise with little wind and temperatures ranging from -1 to +1, as 94 participants either went out into the field or counted birds at their bird feeders. This year we counted 66,923 birds which is below the last ten year average of 73,234. The reasons for the low count are many. We no longer get great numbers of American Crows which used to be counted by the thousands and also in some years the diving ducks at the lake can be widely scattered and difficult to count owing to the prevailing winds. European Starlings are now down by 50% of their 10 year average.
The good news is that we counted a record 104 species beating the previous record by one. We also broke 17 records for the number of individual species. A few of these records may also prove to be Ontario records especially the large numbers of White-Winged Crossbills. We added the Cackling Goose to our historical record as a new count species. The new historical record for total species for all 54 years is now 178.
Species missing from this year’s count day:
Tundra Swan
American Wigeon
Northern Goshawk
Birds seen in count week but not on count day:
Red-throated Loon
Yellow-rumped warbler
Gray Catbird
The count statistics are as follows:
Counters in the Field 94
Number of hours feeder watching: 52
Number of hours owling: 8
Number of hours walking: 163
Number of hours driving: 64
Distance driven owling (km): 40
Distance driven daytime (km): 1,082
Distance walked owling (km): 4
Distance walked daytime (km): 203
The individual species count is as follows:
(Average refers to average count over the last ten years)
Species | 2008 Count | Comments |
---|---|---|
Common Loon | 2 | Average – 2 |
Horned Grebe | 1 | Average – 0 |
Pied-billed Grebe | 1 | Average – 2 |
Red-necked Grebe | 16 | New record |
Double-crested Cormorant | 46 | Average – 33 |
Great Blue Heron | 12 | Average – 6 |
Black-crowned Night-Heron | 6 | Average – 3 |
Trumpeter Swan | 184 | New record |
Canada Goose | 8,008 | Average – 5,751 |
Cackling Goose | 2 | New species |
Mute Swan | 138 | New record |
Wood Duck | 3 | Average – 1 |
Gadwall | 74 | Average – 74 |
Mallard | 5,352 | Average – 4,400 |
American Black Duck | 452 | Average – 390 |
American Black Duck x Mallard | 45 | Average – 11 |
Northern Shoveler | 60 | Average – 41 |
Northern Pintail | 30 | Average – 36 |
Green-winged Teal | 28 | Average – 28 |
Canvasback | 87 | Well below average – 118 |
Redhead | 23 | Well below average -69 |
Ring-necked Duck | 19 | Well below average – 74 |
Greater Scaup | 4,183 | Well below average – 8,221 |
Lesser Scaup | 1,162 | Average – 1,799 |
Harlequin Duck | 1 | Average – 0 |
Surf Scoter | 22 | Well below average – 93 |
White-winged Scoter | 379 | Average – 366 |
Black Scoter | 8 | Average – 8 |
Long-tailed Duck | 3,967 | Well below average – 8,590 |
Bufflehead | 449 | Average – 588 |
Common Goldeneye | 2,024 | Average – 2,387 |
Hooded Merganser | 53 | Average – 52 |
Common Merganser | 3,202 | Well above average – 1,008 |
Red-breasted Merganser | 502 | New record |
Ruddy Duck | 882 | New record |
“Duck” species | 15 | Average – 2,480 |
Bald Eagle | 9 | New record |
Northern Harrier | 1 | Average – 2 |
Sharp-shinned Hawk | 12 | Average – 13 |
Cooper’s Hawk | 20 | New record |
Red-shouldered Hawk | 1 | Average – 1 |
Red-tailed Hawk | 158 | Average – 118 |
Rough-legged Hawk | 3 | Average – 2 |
American Kestrel | 25 | Average – 18 |
Merlin | 2 | Average – 2 |
Peregrine Falcon | 4 | Average – 3 |
Ring-necked Pheasant | 9 | Average – 1 |
Wild Turkey | 59 | New record |
American Coot | 34 | Well below average – 100 |
Ring-billed Gull | 974 | Well below average – 1,809 |
Herring Gull | 3,665 | Well above average – 1,360 |
Thayer’s Bull | 1 | Average – 0 |
Iceland Gull | 51 | New record |
Glaucous Gull | 50 | Well above average – 10 |
Lesser Black-backed Gull | 3 | New record |
Great Black-backed Gull | 138 | Average – 98 |
“Gull ” species | 71 | Average – 29 |
Rock Pigeon | 2,296 | Average – 1, 838 |
Mourning Dove | 1,986 | Well above average – 1,072 |
Eastern Screech Owl | 15 | Average – 18 |
Great Horned Owl | 16 | Well above average – 6 |
Long-eared Owl | 2 | Average – 2 |
Snowy Owl | 1 | Average – 0 |
Belted Kingfisher | 6 | Average – 6 |
Red-bellied Woodpecker | 60 | New record |
Downy Woodpecker | 308 | Well above average – 186 |
Hairy Woodpecker | 90 | Average – 61 |
Northern Flicker | 10 | Average – 12 |
Pileated Woodpecker | 13 | Average – 6 |
Northern Shrike | 4 | Average – 4 |
Blue Jay | 527 | New record |
American Crow | 657 | Well below average – 2,057 |
Horned Lark | 84 | Above average – 30 |
Black-capped Chickadee | 1,862 | Well above average – 1,531 |
Red-breasted Nuthatch | 27 | Below average – 38 |
White-breasted Nuthatch | 256 | Well above average – 174 |
Brown Creeper | 26 | Well above average – 14 |
Carolina Wren | 40 | New record |
Winter Wren | 14 | Average – 9 |
Golden-crowned Kinglet | 54 | Average – 30 |
Eastern Bluebird | 21 | Average – 22 |
Hermit Thrush | 6 | Average – 3 |
American Robin | 1,587 | New record |
Northern Mockingbird | 28 | Average – 23 |
European Starling | 8,099 | Well below average – 15,251 |
American Pipit | 1 | Average – 0 |
Cedar Waxwing | 322 | Average – 308 |
American Tree Sparrow | 1,390 | Well above average – 522 |
Song Sparrow | 74 | Well above average – 35 |
Swamp Sparrow | 8 | Average – 6 |
White-throated Sparrow | 124 | Average – 81 |
White-crowned Sparrow | 9 | Average – 13 |
Dark-eyed Junco | 1,954 | New record |
Snow Bunting | 243 | Well above average – 83 |
Northern Cardinal | 619 | Average – 543 |
Red-winged Blackbird | 11 | Average – 5 |
Common Grackle | 2 | Average – 1 |
Brown-headed Cowbird | 44 | Well above average – 22 |
Purple Finch | 3 | Average – 5 |
House Finch | 601 | Average – 539 |
Red Crossbill | 1 | Average – 0 |
White-winged Crossbill | 2,493 | New record |
Common Redpoll | 8 | Well below average – 47 |
Pine Siskin | 34 | Average – 28 |
American Goldfinch | 1,358 | New record |
“Finch” species | 46 | |
House Sparrow | 2,753 | Average – 2,107 |