The 62nd Peterborough Christmas Count was held on December 15th in tempertures of -15 to -10deg celsius. Still water was frozen. Thirty-five participants found 51 species (below the ten year count average of 54) and 10189 individuals (close to the ten year average of 10413).
One new species were discovered, a Red-necked Grebe (formerly in the count period). Notable birds found included, Short-eared Owl, Snowy Owl, Bufflehead (last seen 2004), 3 Long-tailed Ducks (only seen once before in 1996). Records beaten were Long-tailed Duck (3v1), Bald Eagle (4v2), Cooper's Hawk (10v6), Red-bellied Woodpecker (8v7), Common Raven (10v5), Dark-eyed Junco (453v 426). Snowy Owl (1), Short-eared Owl (1), Belted Kingfisher (3) and Pileated Wood pecker (14) equaled previous records. There were extremely low numbers of Mallard (198), Northern Harrier (2), Ring-billed Gull (54), Cedar Waxwing (5), Common Redpoll (2 - new low for the count) and Pine Siskin (1 - new low for the count). Some species did have higher numbers recorded including Pileated Woodpecker (5), Northern Shrike (17) and Common Raven (11 - new high for the count). Notable misses were American Black Duck, Sharp-shinned Hawk, and Great Black-backed Gull. The most remarkable low number was just 39 House Sparrows, the lowest since records started. Tony Bigg Count Coordinator _______________________________________________ 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
