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)

Species2008 CountComments
Common Loon2Average – 2
Horned Grebe1Average – 0
Pied-billed Grebe1Average – 2
Red-necked Grebe16New record
Double-crested Cormorant46Average – 33
Great Blue Heron12Average – 6
Black-crowned Night-Heron6Average – 3
Trumpeter Swan184New record
Canada Goose8,008Average – 5,751
Cackling Goose2New species
Mute Swan138New record
Wood Duck3Average – 1
Gadwall74Average – 74
Mallard5,352Average – 4,400
American Black Duck452Average – 390
American Black Duck x Mallard45Average – 11
Northern Shoveler60Average – 41
Northern Pintail30Average – 36
Green-winged Teal28Average – 28
Canvasback87Well below average – 118
Redhead23Well below average -69
Ring-necked Duck19Well below average – 74
Greater Scaup4,183Well below average – 8,221
Lesser Scaup1,162Average – 1,799
Harlequin Duck1Average – 0
Surf Scoter22Well below average – 93
White-winged Scoter379Average – 366
Black Scoter8Average – 8
Long-tailed Duck3,967Well below average – 8,590
Bufflehead449Average – 588
Common Goldeneye2,024Average – 2,387
Hooded Merganser53Average – 52
Common Merganser3,202Well above average – 1,008
Red-breasted Merganser502New record
Ruddy Duck882New record
“Duck” species15Average – 2,480
Bald Eagle9New record
Northern Harrier1Average – 2
Sharp-shinned Hawk12Average – 13
Cooper’s Hawk20New record
Red-shouldered Hawk1Average – 1
Red-tailed Hawk158Average – 118
Rough-legged Hawk3Average – 2
American Kestrel25Average – 18
Merlin2Average – 2
Peregrine Falcon4Average – 3
Ring-necked Pheasant9Average – 1
Wild Turkey59New record
American Coot34Well below average – 100
Ring-billed Gull974Well below average – 1,809
Herring Gull3,665Well above average – 1,360
Thayer’s Bull1Average – 0
Iceland Gull51New record
Glaucous Gull50Well above average – 10
Lesser Black-backed Gull3New record
Great Black-backed Gull138Average – 98
“Gull ” species71Average – 29
Rock Pigeon2,296Average – 1, 838
Mourning Dove1,986Well above average – 1,072
Eastern Screech Owl15Average – 18
Great Horned Owl16Well above average – 6
Long-eared Owl2Average – 2
Snowy Owl1Average – 0
Belted Kingfisher6Average – 6
Red-bellied Woodpecker60New record
Downy Woodpecker308Well above average – 186
Hairy Woodpecker90Average – 61
Northern Flicker10Average – 12
Pileated Woodpecker13Average – 6
Northern Shrike4Average – 4
Blue Jay527New record
American Crow657Well below average – 2,057
Horned Lark84Above average – 30
Black-capped Chickadee1,862Well above average – 1,531
Red-breasted Nuthatch27Below average – 38
White-breasted Nuthatch256Well above average – 174
Brown Creeper26Well above average – 14
Carolina Wren40New record
Winter Wren14Average – 9
Golden-crowned Kinglet54Average – 30
Eastern Bluebird21Average – 22
Hermit Thrush6Average – 3
American Robin1,587New record
Northern Mockingbird28Average – 23
European Starling8,099Well below average – 15,251
American Pipit1Average – 0
Cedar Waxwing322Average – 308
American Tree Sparrow1,390Well above average – 522
Song Sparrow74Well above average – 35
Swamp Sparrow8Average – 6
White-throated Sparrow124Average – 81
White-crowned Sparrow9Average – 13
Dark-eyed Junco1,954New record
Snow Bunting243Well above average – 83
Northern Cardinal619Average – 543
Red-winged Blackbird11Average – 5
Common Grackle2Average – 1
Brown-headed Cowbird44Well above average – 22
Purple Finch3Average – 5
House Finch601Average – 539
Red Crossbill1Average – 0
White-winged Crossbill2,493New record
Common Redpoll8Well below average – 47
Pine Siskin34Average – 28
American Goldfinch1,358New record
“Finch” species46 
House Sparrow2,753Average – 2,107

Events and Activities

Event Calendar

Bird Study Group

Monthly Meetings

Nature Outings

Junior Naturalists' Club

Bird Counts

Christmas Bird Counts

Duck Count

WELO IBA Survey

Dundas IBA Surveys

Fall Bird Count