122nd CBC Results – as we receive them

Count Name

Date

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Provisional Results

Species total: 43 plus and additional 5 species during count week. Total number of individual birds was 1,892.

Bohemian Waxwing (479) reclaimed its spot as most numerous species, taking it back from the Mallards of last year; but both Waxwing and Mallard (154) numbers were still half of average. Of our other numerous species only American Crow (113) numbers were average while Rock Pigeon (51) and Common Raven (148) were well below average. Record high counts were recorded for 2 species this year: EurasianCollared-Dove (44) and White-winged Crossbill (only the sixth time they’ve been recorded on count day).  Pine Siskin was missed for the first time in 8 years. Belted Kingfisher, American Three-toed Woodpecker, White-breasted Nuthatch and Gray-crowned Rosy-finch were missed. Northern Shrike was missed again for the second year in a row. Last year, Common Redpoll was missed but this year we saw 163, slightly above average.

Thanks to the “fielder group” who braved the chilly day and the “feeder group” who enjoyed watching from their cozy homes. Without their efforts the success of the day would not be possible.

Please join us for the Creston Valley Bird Festival, May 13-15, 2022. http://www.crestonvalleybirds.ca

Ulrike Sliworsky.

There were only one of each of the fallowing species Herring Gull, 1 Pileated Woodpecker, and 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch. Some years there are none of these species seen at all but we do see them on most counts. There were two new species a Turkey Vulture and a Red-shouldered Hawk.  The Red-shouldered Hawk was photographed for the first time in BC. The Northwestern Crow is no more it was lumped last year with the American Crow.

Temperatures on the 14^th were at -1 to 3°C with light winds and 10 %-15% cloud cover.  We had a dry count day with sun most of the day; numbers of individuals were up from last year’s count. Counters did an excellent job of finding and identifying birds as usual! 

While the number of birds counted were less than in other years, 52 different species were spotted which is the highest to date for this bird count. One participant with a great bird feeder photographed 2 regionally rare birds at her feeder: an Anna’s Hummingbird and a White-breasted Nuthatch. White-winged Crossbill and Dusky Grouse were new Christmas sitings for this area. Notable count week species was Golden Eagle spotted in Procter.

Charlie Zinkin

There were 18 participants- 11 driving/ walking in 3 groups, 10 observing feeders.  Total species-57, plus 3 others during count week. Our species numbers were down from some years but not our lowest, but our numbers of each species are quite low. Usually we have hundreds more geese, and many more eagles. There were no swans.  Possibly it was the weather and it was not easy for us to access places.  We are finding it harder to observe birds all year what with LNGC and not being able to view estuary birds as easily. And the wetland and ponds were all frozen this year. Also our participant numbers were down too.

Thank you to everyone who participated.  It is very much appreciated.  The birds appreciate it too.

Sue Thorne.

Weather was not bad this year, with low temperature of -9 at the highest elevation on Beaver Lake Rd, but lows nearer to 0 or just above elsewhere, and high of around 4 most other places.  Partially sunny, partially cloudy, with a stiff north breeze coming up in exposed places by early afternoon.

8541 birds counted of 81 species were counted on count day (Dec. 14^th), which is below the long-term average of 83.9 species, but well above the lowest ever (74 species in 2019).  One extra species (American Kestrel) was tallied during count week but not on count day, for a grand total of 82 species.

The most abundant species were American Coots (1163) followed by European Starlings (955), Bohemian Waxwings (940), Canada Geese (895), and California Quail (828). Only two species, Northern Flicker and Song Sparrow, were seen by every party, and four other species, Canada Goose, California Quail, Bald Eagle and Dark-eyed Junco, were seen by 10 of the 11 parties.  Other interesting birds were 47 Wild Turkeys and 3 Anna’s Hummingbirds.  

Spruce Grouse was the only new species on the count this year.  This has been one of the nemesis birds for this count.  The upper Beaver Lake Road area is Spruce Grouse habitat, and they are easy enough to find in the spring, but winter access is difficult.  The best that could be managed there were a few “grouse sp.” over the years, which were never conclusively Spruce Grouse because Ruffed Grouse and Dusky Grouse also occur in the same areas, and have been counted before.  

Les Gyug

Compiler, Lake Country Christmas Bird Count, 30 December 2021.

Marlene at Lardeau

Our highlight species for the count was a day rooting Boreal Owl, a first on our count. It was initially misidentified as a Northern Pygmy-Owl. Also misidentified was a Northern Saw-whet Owl initially thought to be a Northern Pygmy-Owl. Luckily, both sitings were photographed and on review were correctly identified.  Other great species were two separate bouquets of Gray-crowned Rosy-finch totalling over 175 birds. These had only been seen on two previous counts. And a Northern Pygmy-Owl added to our owl count.

The number of Finches was way down this year. Even my feeders which are usually a finch hotspot had only a few American Goldfinches, Siskin and 1 Purple Finch. Despite Common Redpolls pitching up at other counts in the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, we have had none so far this year. Very unusual.

Ian Routley.

Highlights … Wilson’s Snipe, 4 Northern Pygmy-Owl, Merlin, 4 Northern Shrike, 7 Steller’s Jay, 2 Blue Jay, 2 Canada Jay, 2 Boreal Chickadee, 2 Chestnut-backed Chickadee, White-breasted Nuthatch, 2 American Dipper, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Varied Thrush.

Count Week … Red-tailed Hawk.

Rare to the count was a White-throated Sparrow. There were low numbers of Wild Turkey, Pine Siskin, and Bohemian Waxwings. An American Dipper was seen the day after the count. Common Goldeneye and Common Mergansers were seen on the Columbia river.

 The count area was covered by 29 participants in 11 groups of 1 to 5 people each. There were 459 kilometers covered by vehicles in a combined total of 45.5 hours. Also, participants on foot covered 28 kilometers over 15 hours. In addition, 3 feeder counts reported in.

         A total of 64 species was seen with an additional 3 during count week. This is one of the lowest number of species ever seen on our Christmas Bird Count. Perhaps this is because of the cold weather in the week before the count, freezing open water and bringing in the snow. The total number of birds seen was 6950. This also is quite below our average.

        The most common bird seen was the Canada goose with 1514, down about 1000 from the week before. In second place were the bohemian waxwings with 998, followed by European starlings with 844. Rounding out the top five were 516 mallards and 486 rock pigeons, both numbers somewhat below average.

        There were some notable sightings. There were a record high number of red-winged blackbirds with 447; the previous record was 355 set in 2018. There were a couple of rarities both seen in the south east section: 1 Lincoln’s sparrow and 4 American tree sparrows; both species were last seen in 2004. A cedar waxwing feeding with bohemian waxwings at Raven was a rare winter visitor.

        There was only one owl found this year, a short-eared owl near the Salmon River. Also, only 2 pine siskins were seen, at a feeder, when often hundreds are seen. There were no loons, wrens, redpolls or crossbills.

       A big thank you to all who participated in this year’s count and helped to make it a success. It would not happen without you.

Ted Hillary.

A first for our count, and exciting to see here at all, were a couple of American Goldfinch seen in town. This species is slowly moving into our area. The pair here now are not in their breeding plumage but watch out for their brilliant yellow in Spring.  A few sparrows that should have migrated stayed close to feeders. Other birds we do not see often on our counts were a Barred owl and a couple of Ring-necked Pheasants that have been released from captivity. Apart from Chickadees, Crows and Ravens, the most abundant species was the huge flock of Bohemian Waxwings that were seen swirling in clouds around town in search of berries such as mountain ash.

A huge ‘Thank You’ goes to all the people who participated.

Rosamund Pojar.

Only 1 rare bird was encountered, a Common Redpoll in amongst a flock of Pine Siskins. Other impressive finds were 3 Snow Goose, 3 Brant, 1273 Dunlin and 11 Long-tailed Ducks as well as 2 Western Meadowlarks and 311 Ann’s Hummingbirds.

Early birders were out at 6am to look for owls. 1  Northern Saw-whet Owl, 11 Great Horned Owls and Barred Owls were located in the early morning and throughout the day. As the weather made it unsafe to take a boat out to Race Rocks the Ecoguardians did a bird count of their own to add to the count.

The Sooke CBC is sponsored by the Rocky Point Bird Observatory http://www.rpbo.org

Highlights were non-existent with no rare or even uncommon species reported. The number of birds of each species has not been calculated yet.  Lowlights:   Glaring misses were Black Scoter, and Killdeer, which are never normally missed. Rock Sandpiper was missed but may be explained by the high tides, forcing it to remain on the offshore White Islet. No new species were recorded so the all-time total species for count-day remains 172.  Due to Covid concerns the Countdown was held on Zoom. Thanks to Rand Rudland for hosting.

This is a preliminary report and there will be updates and additional information.

Tony Greenfield.

As was the case in 2019 (there was no count in 2020 due to covid restrictions), tides were high throughout the day: 4.4 m from 6 to 7 am, 3.6 m at noon, and 3.7 m at 5 pm, leaving little shore habitat and resulting in low counts and some missed species for shorebirds.

Winter finches and grosbeaks were in short supply this year with small numbers of Pine Siskins, one Common Redpoll and no Pine Grosbeaks, Evening Grosbeaks or Red Crossbills reported.  A few Bohemian Waxwings were present in the area this year, though only one bird was seen on count day.

The species total stands at 124 with 70,795 individuals, compared to 126 species and 76,319 individuals in 2019 – impressive considering the conditions (2019 had good weather).   

Some highlights:  Brant 1, Rough-legged Hawk 4, Snowy Ow 1, Black Turnstone 9, Mourning Dove 1, Spotted Sandpiper 4, Gray Catbird 1, Bohemian Waxwing 1, White-throated Sparrow 1, Harris Sparrow 1, Common Redpoll 1, Brown-headed Cowbird 8, Townsend Warbler 1, Orange-crowned Warbler 1.

Notably missed this year: Western Grebe, Long-billed Dowitcher, Marbled Murrelet