The 9th Strathroy Christmas Bird Count was held on December 22, 2004. The snow cover was deep, drifted in areas. It started to snow some more around 10 AM and did not let up until around 3 PM.
Nevertheless, 16 field observers and 5 feeder watchers tallied 13,170 birds of 53 species (average number of species for the 1st 8 years of the count is 54). New for the count: Fox Sparrow (2) Record Highs: Wild Turkey (32) Red-bellied Woodpecker (57) Downy Woodpecker (112) Pileated Woodpecker (6); after being absent for the past 3 years Cedar Waxwing (46) American Tree Sparrow (976) Song Sparrow (75) White-crowned Sparrow (28) Dark-eyed Junco (1620) American Goldfinch (643) Record Lows: Northern Harrier (1) American Kestrel (3) Swamp Sparrow (2) Snow Bunting (104) Other interesting observations: Tundra Swan - seen on count week Great Blue Heron - seen on count week From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thu Dec 23 13:49:10 2004 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from smtp104.rog.mail.re2.yahoo.com (smtp104.rog.mail.re2.yahoo.com [206.190.36.82]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with SMTP id 6660EA0FB7 for <[email protected]>; Thu, 23 Dec 2004 13:21:08 -0500 (EST) Received: from unknown (HELO Bowles1) ([EMAIL PROTECTED]@24.102.19.18 with login) by smtp104.rog.mail.re2.yahoo.com with SMTP; 23 Dec 2004 14:21:02 -0000 Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> From: "Bob Bowles" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Ontario Birds" <[email protected]> Date: Thu, 23 Dec 2004 09:21:00 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2720.3000 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2739.300 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.1 Subject: [Ontbirds]Great Gray Owls in Simcoe County X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list Reply-To: Bob Bowles <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 23 Dec 2004 18:49:13 -0000 As a result of media releases in early December asking for Great Gray Owl reports along with an excellent photograph thanks to Marc Johnson that he took in November in Hurst we have now received 55 reports of Great Gray Owls in Simcoe County. They are moving around and I have plotted their movements on a map and feel that there are 9 owls involved but more reports and owls are coming in every day. The most reliable Great Gray is in Ramara township just south of Casino Rama at the corner of Mara/Rama Boundary Road and Sideroad 25. Another along Cambrian Road between Hampshire Mills Road and Telford Road and the third along hwy 12 between Mt. St. Louis and Moonstone Road. There are also over 700 Wild Turkeys in one flock in a corn field at this last location plus many other reports of smaller flocks around the area. Please send an update to me if you observe any of these owls or others in Simcoe County. A European Goldfinch has been visiting the feeder of Jim and Ellen Graham in Lake Dalrymple for the last two weeks. This is in the circle for the Carden Alvar Christmas Bird Count which will be held on Sunday, January 2, 2005. Please contact me if you are interested in taking part in the Carden Alvar Count in the New Year. A good way to start off your 2005 bird list and maybe add Great Gray Owls and the goldfinch. Gulls at the Orillia landfill last Saturday included 500 Herring, 73 Great Black-backed, 7 Glaucous, 3 Iceland, and 3 Ring-billed Gulls. Also 3 Bald Eagles at the Orillia Narrows. Bob Bowles Orillia, Ontario
