The Prince Edward Point CBC was held in “challenging” conditions on December 14th. Wind chill was in the –20s, a lot of open water had frozen over the previous night and there was fog over the remaining open water.
With one report still to come, the following are the highlights for the Prince Edward Point CBC: Tundra Swans (12, average 46); Snow Geese (2, average 1); Northern Pintails (11, average 4); Ring-necked Ducks (5, average 1); Gadwall (25, average 6); Turkey Vulture (1, average 1); Peregrine Falcon (1, average 0); Bald Eagles (15, average 4); Glaucous Gull (1, average 1); Snowy Owl (1, average 0); Great Horned Owl (1, average 5); Red-bellied Woodpeckers (5, average 1); Pileated Woodpecker (3, average 2); Common Ravens (19, average 1); Brown Creeper (1, average 2); Eastern Bluebirds (8, average 3); Hermit Thrush (1, average 0); Yellow-rumped warblers (17, average 9); Golden-crowned kinglets (8, average 3); Gray catbird (1 – first ever recorded); White-throated Sparrow (3, average 1); White-crowned Sparrow (1, average 0). Overall waterfowl sightings are very low due to poor visibility. Winter finches were absent and the total of Snow Buntings was low (5, average of 227). A small raft of Hooded Mergansers seen during count week departed when their cove froze over and weren’t seen on the big day. Congratulations to Tyler Hoar for spotting the first-ever Gray Catbird in this area’s CBC. Thanks to Terry Sprague for his years as compiler for the Prince Edward Point CBC and for handing the records over in such good order. And huge thanks to all the birders who ventured out in atrocious weather to complete the count. _______________________________________________ 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
