Here are the results just given to me of the Toronto Ornithological Club's CBC conducted December 15 under good weather conditions. There were 96 species of which none were new. It is getting hard to find a new one because our count began in 1900, admittedly with gaps in the early years. High counts were Trumpeter Swan 19 (previous 16), Ruddy Duck 134 (55), Bald Eagle 8 (3), Snowy Owl 8 (6), Common Raven one (the only other one was seen in 1951), Carolina Wren 8 (6), and Northern Cardinal 610 (598). Blue Jay numbers have fully recovered from the recurrence of West Nile virus in 2010 and 2011 but American Crows remained scarce. Other noteworthy finds included a Purple Sandpiper on the Leslie spit which apparently is still there and 143 Snow Buntings was a good count. Long-tailed Ducks numbered only 3291. A Savannah Sparrow which had some features of an Ipswich Sparrow was count week but the Blue-headed Vireo at High Park 2 days earlier was not included in count week because it was not seen by one of the team. _______________________________________________ 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
