Hello Ontbirders, The 85th Woodstock Christmas Bird Count was held 22 December 2018. The weather was suboptimal with 40-50kph winds. Almost all water was open but had been frozen earlier in the winter. The food crop was poor with very few tree seeds and berries.
Despite the challenging conditions, we managed to find 64 species of birds, 2 above average. Highlights were: 2 Green-winged Teal (9th count), Pittock Lake, James Holdsworth 1 Double-crested Cormorant (new for count), Thames River below Pittock Lake Dam, Richard Skevington, Richard Skevington, Mike and Tuesdee Maranger, Bill Grant, John Van Beek, James Holdsworth 4 Turkey Vultures (3rd count), 1 at Pittock Lake and 3 south of Woodstock - John Harvey, Anita Goodman, Marilyn Merkley, Barry Merkley, Jerome van Erve, Roger Boyd, Stephan Lebonte - 2 birds on a deer carcass and 1 on a raccoon 28 Sandhill Cranes (6th count), Hogsback area, Ken Dance, Janet Dance, Susan and Jim Sanderson - 6 consecutive counts for this now regular Oxford County wintering bird 1 Iceland Gull (6th count), near Beachville, James Holdsworth - during evening flyby (most birds heading west up the Thames) 1 Glaucous Gull (4th count), Pittock Lake, Jeff Skevington 1 Snowy Owl (3rd count), Parkinson Avenue at Universal Road, Woodstock, Jeff and Angela Skevington - the first time we have found something new after the count compilation (9pm) 1 Peregrine Falcon (5th count), near Beachville, James Holdsworth 2 White-crowned Sparrows (8th count, new high), 1 in Hickson and 1 east of Woodstock, Sharron Skevington, Corrie Juurlink, Alexander Skevington, Jeff Skevington, Angela Skevington New high counts 21 Great Blue Heron (previous high 16) 7 Bald Eagles (tied previous high) 1370 Herring Gulls (previous high 571) 3 Merlin (previous high 1) 24 Red-winged Blackbird (previous high 22) Good birding! -- Jeff Skevington, Research Scientist Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids and Nematodes Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada 960 Carling Avenue, K.W. Neatby Building Ottawa, ON, K1A 0C6, Canada Phone: 613-720-2862 FAX: 613-759-1927 E-mail: jhskeving...@gmail.com _______________________________________________ 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
