The 33rd annual St. Clair NWA CBC was held on January 1, 2013.
Much of the count circle is open farm field, but the extensive wetlands along
the eastern side of Lake St. Clair, the lake itself as well as the lower
reaches of the Thames River provide great habitat for birds, especially
waterbirds, when there is just enough open water to get them more concentrated.
However the current goose hunting season which extends into January has
eliminated access to some of the best areas as some private hunt clubs still
have paying guests.
Twelve observers covered the available area under mostly cold, cloudy
conditions. Temperatures ranged from about -7C to -4C with, at times, brisk
northerly winds. Snow cover in sheltered areas amounted to ~10-15 cm.
A total of 92 species was recorded, one more than previous high achieved in
2004 and 2007. Thirty-five species of waterbirds were noted, including 22
species of waterfowl. One species, Snow Goose, was observed the day before, but
not on, the count day.
No new species were added, so the cumulative list beginning in 1981 remains at
137 species.
New high numbers (previous high):
Hooded Merganser--20 (9)
Bald Eagle--26 (15)
Northern Harrier--27 (26)
Merlin--3 (2)
Wild Turkey--9 (6)
Lesser Black-backed Gull--3 (1)
Glaucous Gull--16 (3)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet--2 (1)
Savannah Sparrow--20 (4)
Dark-eyed Junco--916 (611)
Tied high numbers:
Horned Grebe--1
Thayer's Gull--1
Brown Thrasher--1
Other notable species included:
Great Black-backed Gull--351, a little lower than all-time high of 372
American Crow--as usual, a very high number of crows were observed. An
estimated 126,000 individuals were observed, but lower than our all time high
of 159860 recorded in 2000;
Snowy Owl--one bird;
Notable misses (seen on at least half of previous counts) included:
American Wigeon
Hairy Woodpecker
Brewer's Blackbird
Allen Woodliffe--compiler
Chatham
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ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial
birding organization.
Send bird reports to [email protected]
For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
