The Belleville CBC was held on December 27 under partly sunny skies and negative temperatures with virtually no snow on the ground. Twenty-eight savvy participants tallied an above average 58 species including Northern Goshawk, 5 Barred Owls and 2 Pergrine Falcons, the latter species having returned to their winter perch on the new Belleville Courthouse. An above average total individual count of 8239 birds, of which 27% were introduced species (House Sparrow, Starling, Rock Pigeon and Mute Swan). Count week birds included Snowy Owl and Song Sparrow.
The compilation was held at a pizza joint where calories were inhaled and tall tales exhaled. Gull and Waterfowl numbers were down with the exception of Mallard 695 (avg. 386) and Canada Geese 2072 (avg. 1026) which took advantage of the remaining open water in the Moira River and the Bay of Quinte. Additional notable lows may have been due to the locally poor crop of Cedar berries: Starling 742 (average 1440), Cedar Waxwing 116 (202) , Myrtle Warbler 0 (3.5) and Robin 3 (295). New record highs: Bald Eagle 4 (previous 3), Raven 16 (14), RWBL 45 (9), Cardinal 81 (62), WB nuthatch 130 (110), RB nuthatch 9 (5), Pine Sisikin flock of 75 (8), Red-bellied Woodpecker 7 (6), Downy Woodpecker 74 (68), Hairy Woodpecker 35 (32), Bluebird 25 (17) and Pine Grosbeak 43 (tied 43). Just outside the CBC Circle during Count Week , and not added to the totals, eBirders found Rough-legged Hawk, Great Horned Owl, Brown-headed Cowbird and a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. A special thank you to John Blaney for organizing the Belleville CBC for so many years, and assisting me with my first CBC as Compiler. Tom Wheatley _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) - 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 Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide Visit the OFO Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists
