For our 105th consecutive London CBC, as with other Counts reporting for Dec 14, the weather was not ideal. Blustery winds, cold and snow caused discomfort and poor conditions for walking and driving routes. Only two of the over 30 parties cancelled, however. Most reported fewer numbers of birds but the highlights outweighed that stat. An exception was that the number of American Robins is high, almost 200 so far (record was 208 in 1998). Only a small bit of standing water was open, but it concentrated the waterfowl making counting easier and more profitable. The Thames and Medway Rivers were partly frozen, and surprisingly many small creeks and drainage ditches were reported open. Many birds were clustered in groups where they could get food, water and/or shelter, or at feeders. Our biggest bird feeder, the London dump, hosted 6 gull species and a snowy owl. No blackbird species, and no winter finches were reported. We did have a few Snow Buntings, Horned Larks and one Lapland Longspur. Our Bald Eagle counts have been soaring the last few years due to 3-4 active nests in London area along the Thames, and due to a becoming regular winter concentration west of the City, and with not all the parties reporting we should have over 15 again this year (19 in 2012, there were 8 together on the ice at a local gravel pit on the 12th).
There are still a number of parties and feeders who have not reported yet, so these results are not finalized. I have to check on a few reported birds as well. Highlight to this point included: Cackling Goose (3 reported, 4th CBC), Northern Pintail (1, 11th CBC), Blue-winged Teal (under review, 2nd CBC), Lesser Scaup (2, 15th CBC), Red-breasted Merganser (1, 21st CBC), Gadwall (2, 10th CBC), Ruddy Duck (2, 7th CBC), Redhead (2, 17th CBC), Northern Goshawk (1, 17th CBC), Merlin (1, 14th CBC), Iceland Gull (2, 11th CBC) , Glaucous Gull (2, 21st CBC) , Lesser Black-backed Gull (2, 7th CBC) , Great Black-backed Gull (1, 29th CBC), Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (1, 6th since 2005 CBC), Red-headed Woodpecker (1, 4th since 1992), Pileated Woodpecker (24th CBC), Tufted Titmouse (2, last 10 years more likely seen), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1, last 10 years more reported), Eastern Bluebird (4, 16th CBC), Hermit Thrush (2, 28th CBC) Northern Shrike (2, fewer reported last 10 years), Field Sparrow (1, fewer in last 10 years), Chipping Sparrow (1, under review), Lapland Longspur (1, 19th CBC) and Snowy Owl (2, 12th CBC, 1 each other time except 3 in 1949) If the tally changes drastically, or if a particularly rare bird is reported from those that haven't gotten their results to me, I will repost. For information of the whereabouts of any of these birds please contact me through my email. Pete Read Compiler London CBC (since 1983) _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup
