121st CBC Results – as we receive them

Count Name

Date

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Provisional Results

Fourteen volunteer bird counters in six teams covered the 24-kilometre diameter count circle around 100 Mile House. The day started with a dump of snow, but cleared.

A highlight of the day was a Northern Hawk-Owl. Overall, raptors were in short supply, with four Bald Eagles spotted on count day but no hawks.

Several volunteers also counted birds at their yards and feeders. Their sightings included Steller’s Jays, Canada Jays, Black-capped and Mountain Chickadees, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Brown Creepers, and a slew of woodpeckers.

The most abundant species was one flock of three hundred Bohemian Waxwings in town, followed by 164 Black-capped Chickadees totalled from all the count areas.

Paul Foth

Total species confirmed 71, total individual birds 5,219. Some of the species seen: Trumpeter Swan 21, Harlequin Duck 102, White-winged Scoter 151, Black Scoter 22, Long-tailed Duck 14, Hooded Merganser 42, Common Merganser 76, Red-breasted Merganser 142, Western Grebe 14, Anna’s Hummingbird 6, Black Oystercatcher 38, Black-bellied Plover 1, Black Turnstone 211, Common Murre 208, Marbled Murrelet 8, Iceland Gull (Thayer’s) 4, Glaucous-winged Gull 355,  Red-throated Loon 1, Pacific Loon 37, Bald Eagle 573, Red-breasted Sapsucker 1, American Dipper 1, Hermit Thrush 1, Red Crossbill 87, White-winged Crossbill 25 (in Bear Creek area), Pine Siskin 283, White-crowned Sparrow 7.

I have enjoyed this first year compiling so far and learning lots to help make it easier for all participants next year. Lets hope we can have more fun next year without Covid.

All the best Happy New Year!

Gord Curry

Doug Phyall.

This year’s count day had 43 counters and 9 feeder watchers. 97 species were observed, down 5 species from last year. The total of individual birds, 54,332, was up 17,814 from 2019.  This year 7 species broke high record numbers for individuals: Cackling Goose 6,153, American Wigeon 10,058, Common Merganser 800, Glaucous Gull 3, Hutton’s Vireo 2, Pine Siskin 1,636 and American Crow 2,133 (due to species being lumped). Three owl species were found on count day: Barred Owl 1, Great Horned Owl 1 and Northern Pygmy-owl 1.  Rare species were: Redhead 1 during count week, Orange-crowned Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler, Hutton’s Vireo 2 and White-throated Sparrow 1.

Denis Knopp

Pre-resgistration required

There were 63 volunteers, 3 of which also did the Kuskanook CBC.  The “Fielder” groups were in their comfortable ‘bubble’, driving in separate vehicles , and wearing their masks when necessary. “Feeder” volunteers counted birds in the comfort of their own homes.

There were 79 species and 9,098 individual birds. There were very large flocks of Pine Siskins this year. The most unexpected and surprising specie was a Mountain Bluebird. Also a Cassin’s Finch was seen by a thrilled feeder watcher.  Some of the other species: Trumpeter Swan 14, Tundra Swan 35, Common Golden-eye 121, California Quail 40, Ruffed Grouse 9, Spruce Grouse 1, Golden Eagle 1, Northern Goshawk 2, Rough-legged Hawk 18, Great Horned Owl 3, Northern Pygmy-Owl 9, Northern Flicker 160, Pileated Woodpecker 24, Northern Shrike 6, Belted Kingfisher 8, Stellar’s Jay 59, Blue Jay 44, Varied Thrush 1, Bohemian Waxwing 45, Yellow-headed Blackbird 1, American Tree Sparrow 1, White-throated Sparrow 11, White-winged Crossbill 1, Red Crossbill 20, Common Redpoll 103, Evening Grosbeak 30, Pine Grosbeak 39, Pine Siskin 2961, American Goldfinch 278, Mountain Bluebird 1, Western Meadowlark 1.

Thanks to all, Ulrike.

The annual Dawson Creek Christmas Bird Count was held on January 2nd 2021. Thirteen socially-distanced field observers and one feeder watcher counted birds on this very foggy day. The wind was light and temperatures held steady around -10 all day. Snow cover was variable, but averaged approximately 18cm. In spite of the poor visibility, it was a successful count: a total of 3973 individual birds of 33 different species were tallied. That’s the most number of species ever tallied on the Dawson Creek count; no doubt helped by the mild winter thus far. Brown Creeper (1) and Golden-crowned Kinglet (2) were new species for the count. Both are fairly hardy little birds that can be found locally in the summer, but rarely stay in the Peace region during winter. Other unusual winter birds included Horned Lark, American Crow, Dark-eyed Junco, and Common Grackle. Again, these species are quite common here during spring & summer, but most head south for the winter. It was a good count for raptors, with Northern Goshawk, Gyrfalcon, Merlin, Bald Eagle, and Northern Hawk Owl all putting in an appearance. Southern birders are very excited about the abundance of finches in the USA and southern Canada this winter. Since most of the finches are dispersing from the boreal forest, it is perhaps not too surprising that our finch count was good, though not spectacular. Common Redpoll was the most abundant species this year, with 934. This is the first time since 2001 that redpoll has taken the crown for ‘highest total’. Downy Woodpecker, White-breasted Nuthatch and House Sparrow all reached their highest ever respective totals on the count this year. And of course, there were the misses: no Ruffed Grouse were seen (the population is much lower this year compared to last) and no Northern Shrikes were found (after being tallied on each of the previous 6 counts). Also (maybe less surprisingly) no Evening Grosbeaks were counted. They are definitely around, as there have been several reports from feeders just outside the count area. Thanks to all who participated!

Mark Phinney, Count Compiler.

We recorded 74 species and 1 count- week bird.  There were 10,445 individuals down 223 from 10,870 last year. High numbers for individual species this year on the Harrison count included Snow Goose 340, Northern Shoveler 15, Red-necked Grebe 3, Western Grebe 3, Peregrine Falcon 6, Western Meadowlark 19, House Finch 118 and Pine Siskin 452. The low species count was Mew Gull at 2. There were 2 new species this year: Western Scrub-Jay and Orange-crowned Warbler. Rare birds for the count were White-throated Sparrow, American Tree Sparrow, Dunlin and Hutton’s Vireo. Northern Saw-whet Owl was a count week bird.

Denis Knopp

There were 60 species and 4,519 individual birds. The Kuskanook Count produced 14 additional species that were not found in the Creston Valley count. This is because it includes some lake birds such as 2 large groups of American Coots. There were also very large flocks of Pine Siskins this year. Some of the species found were: Common Loon 3, Trumpeter Swan 16, Tundra Swan 26, American Coot 2373, Ring-necked Duck 13, Bufflehead 71, Common Goldeneye 120, Hooded Merganser 79, Horned Grebe 35, Western Grebe 36, Bald Eagle 13, Northern Harrier 5, Rough-legged Hawk 2, Great Horned Owl 1, Short-eared Owl 2, Long-eared Owl 4, Northern Pygmy-Owl 2, Pileated Woodpecker 3, Northern Shrike 2, Black-billed Magpie 15, Black-capped Chickadee 97, Red-breasted Nuthatch 29, Marsh Wren 1, Townsend’s Solitaire 1, Red-winged Blackbird 250, Red Crossbill 25, Common Redpoll 1, Pine Siskin 392, American Goldfinch 33.

Ulrike, Kuskanook CBC Coordinator.

Canada Goose 165, Trumpeter Swan 12, Tundra Swan 1, Gadwall 4, Am Wigeon 18, Mallard 485, Northern Shoveler 1, Green-winged Teal 34, Ring-necked Duck 202, Greater/lesser Scaup 125, Bufflehead 55, Common Goldeneye 33, Barrow’s Goldeneye 2, Hooded Merganser 12, Common Merganser 28, Yellow-billed Loon 1, Great Blue Heron 20, Sharp-shinned Hawk 1, Northern Goshawk 1, Bald Eagle 228, Wilson’s Snipe 8, Marbled Murrelet 1, Mew Gull 90, Herring Gull 9, Thayer’s Gull 3, Glaucous-winged Gull 360, Northern Pygmy-Owl 1, Belted Kingfisher 6, Northern Flicker 12, Merlin 1, Northern Shrike 1, Stellar’s Jay 11, Northwest Crow 122.

33 species were counted. Total birds recorded 2,053.

Highlights included Willet, Glaucous Gull, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Blue Jay, California Scrub-Jay, and Northern Mockingbird.

Count-day preliminary total was 125 species.

Weather was mainly mild and rain free, although the afternoon wind appeared to make the dicky birds difficult to find. Our teams of ones and twos did a sterling job covering unfamiliar areas under Covid precautions. A big miss this year resulted from being unable to put in teams into Point Roberts, Washington. However, a few very helpful Pt Roberts residents stepped up (Thank you!), and provided some coverage of this key area of the count.

Holding our first CBC based in Ladysmith, we had a great day birding on December 20.  For a new count, we were still able to have 34 adults participate, of which half were solely bird feeder watchers on their own properties.

The weather was cooperative, with light southerly winds and a high of 10C. The sun even came out at times!

As our 15 mile count circle goes from Chemainus River estuary to Nanaimo Airport and from inland hills to Thetis Island, the area provides habitats for a diversity of bird life.

Our preliminary data totalled 84 species on the count day, with another rare species seen during the count week, a Yellow-billed Loon.

Highlights on count day were: Cackling Goose 9, Black Duck 6, Virginia Rail 1, Northern Harrier 1, Ring-billed Gull 1, Great-horned Owl 1(heard), Barred Owl 1, American Kestrel 2, and Northern Shrike 1. High numbers for some notable species were: Canada Goose 405, Trumpeter Swan 80, Mallard 1012, Anna’s Hummingbird 169, Bald Eagle 53, European Starling 834, American Robin 257, Pine Siskin 793 and Dare-eyed Junco 1010.

I wish to thank the birders involved for their diligence. I hope that we have even greater participation next year.
Robert Hay.

Common raven                                 80
American crow                                  112
Black-capped chickadee                284
Boreal chickadee                              6
Chestnut-backed chickadee        6
Mountain chickadee                       6
Red-breasted nuthatch                 26
Brown creeper                                  2
Dark-eyed junco                               20
Downy woodpecker                       29
Hairy woodpecker                           26
Northern flicker                                12
Pileated woodpecker                     1
Steller’s jay                                         14
Grey jay                                               2
Eastern blue jay                                1
Eurasian collared dove                   14
Varied thrush                                     3
House sparrow                                  19
Song sparrow                                     1
Short-eared owl                               4
Great-horned owl                            1   dw
Great-grey owl                                  1  cw
Barred owl                                          2
Rough-legged hawk                        1
Northern shrike                                2
Common goldeneye                       12
Pine grosbeak                                    28
Evening grosbeak                             2
Yellow-rumped warbler                1
Ruffed grouse                           8
Common redpoll                   11
Bald eagle                               2

Pine Siskin                              15 Dec. 23
American robin                      1  Dec. 23
Clark’s nutcracker “recently”

The four kinds of chickadees are note-worthy, and the owls.

Elsie at McBride

The final count data including 76 feeder counters identified an additional 3 species: American Goldfinch, Mourning Dove and a Jaeger. The Jaeger was another first for the area. The total number of birds seen was a record at 37,893.

We would like to thank all of the participants and the community supporters for giving us access to remote areas and promoted the event.

Regards, Susan Knoerr.

A total of 23 birders traversed the seven areas of the count circle and tallied a whopping 136.4 km in 78.5 hours of walking, both record totals for this count. Teams in the higher elevation areas noted the forests to be surprisingly quiet overall, but species diversity and abundance in the valleys was well above average. In total, we counted 4735 individual birds of 72 species, which equals the 2018 count for species richness and just passes 2018 for a new abundance record. For reference, the count average is 64 species and 3131 individuals.

Five new species for the count were detected: Gadwall, Western Screech-Owl, White-crowned Sparrow (Chris Charlesworth), California Gull (Eva Durance and team), and Mountain Bluebird (Kathryn McCourt)! The overall species total in the count’s eight year history now stands at 108. Other highlights include 2 Cackling Goose (Michelle Hamilton and co.), 3 Chestnut-backed Chickadee, 1 Cassin’s Finch, 1 White-throated Sparrow, 1 Canyon Wren, (Chris. C), 2 Common Redpoll (Alex Bodden and co.) and 8 Northern Pygmy-Owl (various teams). Another observation of note was a group of Gray Partridge at Okanagan Lake Provincial Park a few days before the count (Lois Dickinson). The only notable misses this year were Great Blue Heron and Great-horned Owl.

Matthias Bieber

We had 16 “local” volunteers, all of whom were familiar with the routes that they were to cover after 20 years of Christmas counts.

Total species recorded on count day was 46 – we added another 8 species during count week to bring the total up closer to the average.  Just over 2000 birds were recorded which was a bit under our average.

Small birds were not as numerous as in other years – even sparrows were hard to find.  Pine Siskins made an appearance this year after an absence in 2019, but not in huge numbers.  No sign of Bohemian Waxwings or Grey-crowned Rosy Finches.

The most unusual bird of the day was a Rough-legged Hawk which was noted in the northern part of our count circle.  This was a “write in” on our report form.

We are very grateful that the Lil’wat Nation allowed two of our members access to Reserve Lands to do the count.  The Lil’wat wildlife technician who usually leads this portion of the count was not available due to the pandemic, but we were given permission to carry on with our citizen science project.

Allen McEwan – Coordinator.

Sandwiched between miserable weather days, the three naturally social-distanced Gulf Islands of Mayne, Pender and Saturna lucked out with perfect weather for count day.

130 participants identified 90 species and counted with over 20000 individuals birds; a 40% increase over the last 3 year average.

Some highlights for the zone:

• a pair of Rock Sandpipers on Saturna Island;
• a pair of Greater Scaup along the Saturna coast;
• a pair of Saw-Whet Owls on Pender;
• a pair of American Coots at Magic Lake, a species rarely seen on the islands;
• 4 Eurasian Widgeons on Mayne Island;
• higher than normal numbers of Red Crossbills (340), Barrow’s Goldeneyes (690), Common Mergansers (354), Western Grebes (21), Pie-billed Grebes (11); and
• 4 count week birds: Pine Grosbeaks, Cedar Waxwings, Brewer’s Blackbirds and a White-throated Sparrow.

Most counted bird for the second year in a row was the Pine Siskin (4503) followed closely by the perennial numbers champ, the Dark-eyed Junco (4075).

John F. Peetsma.

 Weather ideal:  13.3C, mostly calm in valley, windier at elevation.  No snow in valley bottom.56 observers in 25 parties, 121.6 party-hours.

107 Species
19839 Individuals

Highlights

Cackling Goose                1

Wood Duck                           33 (all time high)

Northern Shoveler               3

California Gull                   1028 (all time high)

Bewick’s Wren                       8 (all time high)

Spotted Towhee                    25 (all time high)

Purple Finch                       1

Lesser Goldfinch                1 (new to count)

The results for the Revelstoke Christmas bird count are as follows.  We had 18 participants and 2 feeder watchers on a mild and cloudy day. The total was 46 species and 2042 individual birds.  We had a first with a Ruddy Duck and a Dusky Grouse being seen.  Thanks Don Manson

  There were 35 participants in 16 groups of 1 to 5 people in each. Because of covid-19 we were not able to participate in large groups as usual but rather, for the most part, each group covered a smaller area. I think that this proved to be more successful as more areas were better covered. Participants on foot spent 24 hours covering 29.3 k. There were 475.3 k driven in a combined total of 38.6 hours.

  There was a total of 81 species seen, considerably above our average of about 75. In addition 3 species were seen during count week. The total numbers of birds seen was 10,940, much above our average. In comparison last year we had 67 species and 6,880 birds.

  The most common bird seen was the Canada goose with 2312, a count record; the previous record was 2042 birds seen in 2018. Mallards were the next highest count with 1696 birds. This was also a record high with the previous record of 1454 set in 1989. The open water and mild temperatures probably account for these large numbers.

  Rounding out the top 5 were 951 rock pigeons, 919 European starling and 804 pine siskins. Although these are not record highs they are still goodly numbers.

  There were 4 more record high counts: 8 cackling geese, previous high of 2 in 2019; 329 trumpeter swans, previous high of 311 set in 2011; 725 American goldfinches, previous high of 669 set in 2007; and 8 spotted towhees, previous high of 5 set in 2019.

  Several highlights were mentioned by participants. To note but a few: a cooper’s hawk catching a squirrel; a peregrine falcon posing for an admiring audience; a pileated  woodpecker in all its majesty; killdeer and dunlin feeding near the mouth of the river; a pygmy owl watching the watchers; lots of little brown birds feeding under a feeder. I’m sure each participant has a favourite moment which we could add to the list.

  I would like to thank everyone who participated in this count, whether you were in the field or watching your feeder. With all the restrictions this year imposed by the covid virus we missed all the socialization which is usually part of the count. Hopefully next year it will be more back to normal.  

Ted Hillary

Ray Town.

2020 was also the highest record of participants.  In addition to the 75 who spread out in the Sooke area we also had 7 feeder watchers for a total of 82 people participating.

There were some impressive finds throughout the day – a Blue Jay that had been hanging around Sooke for a few weeks, a Ruffed Grouse way up in the hills of Metchosin, a Western Meadowlark on Whiffen Spit and over 400 Anna’s Hummingbirds!  The highest species count was Pine Siskin’s at 6632.

Early birders were out at 6am to look for owls and they found some – 3 Northern Saw-whet Owls, 11 Great Horned Owls and 2 Barred Owls were located in the early morning and throughout the day.

The wind cooperated so that a boat was able to venture out to Race Rocks to see what was there and some participants took to the beach with their spotting scopes to count shorebirds and seabirds as far they could see – over 2300 Brandt’s Cormorant’s flew by!

The 2020 Sooke Christmas Bird Count was sponsored by the Rocky Point Bird Observatory www.rpbo.org

Robyn Byrne.

Greeting Birders,
Our CBC was a success thanks to all of you. By all accounts, everyone seemed to have an enjoyable day. An exceptionally high tide created a challenge for a couple of areas, including a boot full of water. In exposed areas wind and rain in the morning seemed to drive the birds into hiding. But we still found the birds!
Our total species number is 74, perhaps a bit on the high end of average.
Total number of individuals  6,931.

Some surprises and good sightings:

Greater White- fronted Goose  1, Snow Goose 3, Trumpeter Swan 1, Pied-billed Grebe 3,  American Kestrel 1, Virginia Rail 1, Northern Shrike 2, Northern Pygmy-Owl 1, Rufous Hummingbird 1, Western Scrub 1, Grey Jay 5, Pine Grosbeak 1.

Other raptors:

Sharp-shinned Hawk 1, Cooper’s Hawk 2, Red-tailed Hawk 4, Merlin 1, Peregrine Falcon 1, Bald Eagle 534.

Some trends:
Anna’s Hummingbird   32    We continue to see these birds on our CBC over the last few years.
Common Goldeneye   27
Barrow’s Goldeneye   9       Both goldeneye species continue to show very low numbers compared to a decade ago.
Eurasian Collared Dove   19   Seem to be here to stay.

Count Week :     (bird species spotted in the three days before and after the CBC, but not on count day)
Great Horned Owl, Northern Goshawk, American Goldfinch and Horned Grebe.
Completely Missing: Northern Harrier.

So, those are the highlight of this years count. Thanks again to all of you who participated.

Till next year,

Marcia.

Canada Jay 9, Pine Grosbeak 65, Common Raven 102, Blue Jay 13, House Sparrow 1, Downy Woodpecker 3, Black-capped Chickadee 34, Res-breasted Nuthatch 4, Black-billed Magpie 1, American Crow 3, Boreal Chickadee 2.  Species for count week: Dark-eyed Junco 4.

Many reported a slow day and noted that there were far more birds around in the few days prior. During the day there were periodic bouts of strong winds which may have affected results. Our total bird count was 13,655, about 40% down from 2019. The biggest declines were for the species that are normally the most abundant: Canada Goose -24%, Mallard -84%, California Quail -63%, Pigeons and Doves -45%, Crow family -37%, Bohemian Waxwing -60%, House Finch -74% and Red-winged Blackbird -66%. Starling and Junco numbers were similar to 2019. There were notable increases for Marsh Wren, 1 to 7, and Western Bluebird, 0 to 45.

We still managed to find 92 species, just 4 down from 2019. Waterfowl species were down 6 and we missed a few regulars such as Virginia Rail and Short-eared Owl. Species found in 2020 that were not present in 2019 included Tundra Swan, Anna’s Hummingbird, Killdeer and Snow Bunting.

The first bird of the morning for Aaron Deans was a spectacular juvenile Western Tanager eating grapes outside the kitchen window at the Bishop Bird Sanctuary. As best as I can tell, this is a new species for the Vernon CBC

Rick Bonar, Vernon CBC Coordinator December 23,2020

Ann Nightingale