The 95th Hamilton Christmas Bird Count was held on Saturday, December 26 under mild and slightly windy conditions. Most of the day was overcast, with some spitting rain near the end of the afternoon. The overall number of birds counted was just barely the second lowest in 30 years, despite having many more counters in the field than usual.
Participants: 105 Total species on count day: 93 (10-year avg is 105) Additional count week species: 4 Total individual birds: 38,103 (10-year avg is 63,165) No new species were reported, however one new hybrid (Herring x Great Black-backed Gull) was counted and a single House Wren was counted for the second time ever in the history of this count. Compared to the previous year, species that were not found in as great as numbers were mostly ducks and gulls, which is not surprising without any ice on Lake Ontario or Hamilton Harbour on the count day. Additionally, nearly 3,000 fewer starlings than usual were counted this year despite more effort put into "invasive species birding" in the urban downtown core this year. Although most species were low in numbers, there are a couple notable exceptions. The Carolina Wren saw it's best count year at 62 individuals counted, a full 10 more than last year's record. This species has been seen every year of the count since 1986 and has seen a steady incline in the last ten years as it pushes it's common territory northwards, even with the harshly cold winters of late. Additionally, at 886 counted the American Goldfinch saw its best year by far since 2009. After count week was finished, the vagrants and rarities appeared, and we barely missed adding Rusty Blackbird, Grey Catbird, Palm Warbler, Snowy Owl, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and Bohemian Waxwing to the count week. Ah well. Below is the full list of species and count: Common Loon 7 Horned Grebe 1 Pied-billed Grebe 1 Red-necked Grebe 4 Double-crested Cormorant 110 Great Blue Heron 8 Trumpeter Swan 176 Canada Goose 4551 Cackling Goose 2 Mute Swan 129 Tundra Swan 46 Gadwall 54 American Wigeon 2 American Black Duck 210 Mallard 2888 Mallard x American Black Duck (hybrid) 8 Northern Shoveler 126 Northern Pintail 3 Green-winged Teal 176 Canvasback 195 Redhead 42 Ring-necked Duck 11 Greater Scaup 2077 Lesser Scaup 488 Surf Scoter 24 White-winged Scoter 276 Black Scoter 6 Long-tailed Duck 2307 Bufflehead 422 Common Goldeneye 1550 Hooded Merganser 189 Common Merganser 191 Red-breasted Merganser 195 Ruddy Duck 234 unidentified duck sp. 505 Bald Eagle 7 Northern Harrier 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk 6 Cooper's Hawk 13 unidentified accipiter sp. 1 Red-tailed Hawk 138 American Kestrel 8 Merlin 7 Peregrine Falcon 3 Wild Turkey 24 American Coot 167 Sandhill Crane 1 Ring-billed Gull 2229 Herring Gull 428 Herring x Great Black-backed Gull (hybrid) 1 Iceland Gull 1 Great Black-backed Gull 146 unidentified gull sp. 41 Rock Pigeon 2595 Mourning Dove 415 Eastern Screech-Owl 10 Great Horned Owl 6 unidentified owl sp. 1 Belted Kingfisher 8 Red-bellied Woodpecker 84 Downy Woodpecker 234 Hairy Woodpecker 94 Northern Flicker 5 Pileated Woodpecker 8 Northern Shrike 1 Blue Jay 327 American Crow 673 Common Raven 5 Black-capped Chickadee 1569 Tufted Titmouse 4 Red-breasted Nuthatch 12 White-breasted Nuthatch 235 Brown Creeper 19 Carolina Wren 62 House Wren 1 Winter Wren 16 Golden-crowned Kinglet 14 Eastern Bluebird 14 Hermit Thrush 1 American Robin 276 Northern Mockingbird 10 European Starling 5377 Cedar Waxwing 294 Eastern Towhee 1 American Tree Sparrow 456 Fox Sparrow 1 Song Sparrow 12 Swamp Sparrow 2 White-throated Sparrow 28 White-crowned Sparrow 3 Dark-eyed Junco 998 Northern Cardinal 421 Red-winged Blackbird 5 Common Grackle 1 Purple Finch 1 House Finch 291 Pine Siskin 5 American Goldfinch 886 House Sparrow 2186 Thanks to all the participants, at the feeders and out in the field! Rob Porter, compiler Hamilton, ON -- Robert Gerald Porter Hamilton Naturalists' Club / Field Events Director / http://hamiltonnature.org/ http://twitter.com/rgeraldporter _______________________________________________ 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 Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide
