The 9th Collingwood Christmas Bird Count was held on Friday, 30 December 2016. Georgian Bay and most running/still water was open. Snow depths ranged from 5-40 cm. Although the temperatures were mild (-8 to -4 C), the weather was miserable. We had high winds and snowfall throughout much of the day.
Nineteen field observers tallied 52 species, which was average. The 4,331 individual birds was our lowest total ever – about 2,000 birds below average. One new species, a well-documented Pine Warbler at a feeder, was present, but unfortunately it was not reported until after count day. This brings our cumulative total to 92 species. We also had 114 Bohemian Waxwings, which we’ve only had once before – and only during count week. We had new high counts for Northern Pintail (7), Ring-necked Duck (5), Harlequin Duck (2), Long-tailed Duck (8), Red-bellied Woodpecker (3), American Crow (434), Common Raven (19) and Pine Siskin (15). Counts of Common Goldeneye (117), Ring-billed Gull (3), Great Black-backed Gull (3), Rock Pigeon (48), Blue Jay (15), Black-capped Chickadee (284), White-breasted Nuthatch (33) and House Sparrow (84) were all-time lows. Other notable observations included singles of American Wigeon (second ever) and Song Sparrow (third ever). Eastern Screech-Owls were quite easy to find a few years ago, but we’ve only managed three in the past two years. No Snowy Owls were found in 2016. Thanks to all the volunteers who contributed their time, effort and birding skills under very challenging weather conditions this year. ********** Burke Korol Barrie, ON --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus _______________________________________________ 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
