Provisional Results 125th Christmas Bird Count
December 14, 2024 to January 5, 2025
We will post results here as we receive them. In the Leave a Reply box at the bottom of this table, please provide a few sentences with the count name, species count, and highlight species (do not list all species) and we will put the summary into the chart. (You may wish to provide a link to an eBird Trip Report or a longer description that is posted elsewhere. The full list of species is to be submitted to Birds Canada with your official report)
Count Name | Date | Provisional Results |
| 100 Mile House | Dec 14 | |
| Abbotsford-Mission | Dec 30 | |
| Apex-Hedley | ||
| Armstrong/ Enderby | ||
| Ashcroft Cache Creek | ||
| Atlin | ||
| Bamfield | Dec 15 | |
| Bella Coola | Dec 15 | |
| Big White | ||
| Bridesville | ||
| Bridge Lake | Dec 15 | |
| Broughton Strait | Dec 29 | The 29th BCBR (Broughton Strait) count took place on December 29, 2024, with 20 participants in five teams and four feeder counters. The count took place around Port McNeill and Malcolm Island and unfortunately no participation from Cormorant Island this year. The weather was pleasant with a constant mild temperature, light showers early, and diminishing breeze through the day. We identified 73 species and counted 6,286 birds which was slightly above average and an additional six species identified during count week. Some highlights included a Yellow-billed Loon, 1000 Dunlin, a couple Wilson’s Snipe, and an increase in frequency of seeing Red Crossbills and Pine Siskins, compared to earlier in the year. Gordon Curry, compiler |
| Bella Bella-Denny Island | ||
| Cache Creek | ||
| Campbell River | Dec 29 | |
| Castlegar | Dec 14 | |
| Cawston | ||
| Chilliwack | Dec 14 | |
| Comox | Dec 15 | The Comox CBC was held on 15 December 2024 in excellent weather, sun and no wind, with 76 birders in 26 parties, mostly of 2-3 birders, and 5 feeder counters. We had a very good count with 115 species and 38,521 individuals recorded on count day, and 4 additional species recorded during count week. Unusual species on count day were Redhead, Ruddy Duck, Rhinoceros Auklet, Bonaparte’s Gull, Snow Bunting, and White-throated Sparrow. In general, bird numbers were strong and Red Crossbill and Pine Siskin were very high. The number of species was the highest since 2004 and the number of participants was a record high. Art Martell, compiler |
| Cortes Island | Dec 28 | |
| Cranbrook | Dec 28 | The binoculars and spotting scopes were out in full force during the 26th Annual Creston Christmas Bird Count day on December 27th, 2024. It was a beautiful day with a bit of sunshine, no wind, and no precipitation. Thirty birders walked and drove around the designated circle count area, and more people watched from their windows to see what came to their birdfeeders. A warm thanks to everyone who contributed to finding 75 species! Ulrike Sliworsky, compiler |
| Creston Valley | Dec 27 | |
| D’Arcy-Birken | Dec 17 | |
| Dawson Creek | Jan 4 | |
| Deep Bay | Dec 19 | The Deep Bay CBC was held on 19 December 2024 in cool, windy weather with rain and fog. There were 66 birders in 33 parties of 1-5 birders, and 14 feeder counters. We had a good count with 100 species and 15,820 individuals recorded on count day, and 1 additional species recorded during count week. Unusual species on count day were Whimbrel, Rock Sandpiper, and White-throated Sparrow. Art Martell, Compiler |
| Duncan | Dec 29 | |
| Edgewood | Dec 27 | |
| Fauquier | Dec 30 | |
| Fernie | Dec 15 | |
| Fort St. James | Dec 28 | |
| Galiano-North Saltspring | Dec 15 | |
| Golden | Dec 29 | |
| Grand Forks | ||
| Greater Masset | Dec 27 | |
| Harrison River | Dec 16 | |
| Harrop–Balfour | Dec 21 | |
| Hat Creek | Dec 27 | |
| Hecate Strait | ||
| Jaffray-Wardner | Dec 14 | |
| Kamloops | Dec 15 | |
| Kaslo | Dec 30 | Great participation again this year with 16 field watchers putting in close to 20 hours of direct observing (this is based on total field time of the count team and doesn’t factor in total individual time). Feeder and citizen watchers were very helpful adding in some species not seen by the field teams such as Merlin, Great Horned Owl, House Finch, Canada Jay. There were 3 species previously not seen: Ring-necked Duck, Great Grey Owl, Great Horned Owl There were 45 species seen including count week….a record high number for Kaslo CBC (next closest 41). There were higher numbers of collared dove, northern flicker, chickadee sp., American dipper. This was, however, a record low individual bird count at 716 on count day. There were no eagles, brown creepers, redpolls, a lower number of mallard, junco, sparrow, house finch, raven, crossbill, siskin, evening grosbeak. Weather wise it was very pleasant with calm conditions, no precipitation, and light cloud. Stuart Heard |
| Kelowna | Dec 14 | |
| Kimberley | Jan 4 | |
| Kitimat | Dec 14 | |
| Kuskanook | Jan 3 | With the open waters of Duck Lake and Kootenay Lake, the Kuskanook Circle Count held on January 3rd, 2025 added 15 more species that can be found in our valley – Common Loon, Pacific Loon, Tundra Swan, American Coot, Pied-billed Grebe, Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Western Grebe, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Ring-billed Gull, Herring Gull, Short-eared Owl, Snow Bunting, and Clark’s Nutcracker.Ulrike Sliworsky, compiler |
| Ladner | Dec 15 | |
| Ladysmith | Dec 15 | |
| Lake Country | Dec 16 | |
| Lake Windermere District | Dec 14 | 35 participants spent over 80 hours, travelling 225 km to count a total of 48 species. An unusually mild fall and early winter meant more open water and contributed to some higher-than-average numbers of water-loving birds: 213 Canada geese. 369 Mallards. 59 Trumpeter Swans. and 27 Bald Eagles. Mild temperatures brought 11 Robins, 56 Song Sparrows, and 111 Townsend Solitaires. Other interesting winter migrants included 30 Snow Buntings. |
| Langara Island | ||
| Lardeau | Dec 27 | At 44 species for Count Day, it is less than the high of 47 species we’ve had 3 times in the 28 years, but it is well above our average. The total number of birds (957) is within our normal range. We counted another 10 species for the week. We had 3 species which we have not had before; Great Grey Owl, California Gull and Iceland Gull. Species which had low numbers were Bohemian Waxwings and Pine Siskins. Mallard numbers were high, as were Ruffed Grouse, Great Blue Heron and Northern Pygmy Owl. The warm weather, sunshine, lack of snow, calm and open water enabled greater access to areas not often covered. Marlene Johnston |
| Lasqueti Island | Dec 28 | |
| Lillooet | Dec 26 | |
| Little River-Powell River Ferry | Dec 30 | The weather was not as good as predicted, with light rain and some wind. However 12 intrepid birders enjoyed huge numbers of Long-tailed Duck, Bonaparte’s Gull, Short-billed Gull, Ancient Murrelet and Pacific Loon. Humpback Whales were also feeding, which likely relates to the high bird numbers. 29 species were counted including 3 Rock Pigeons that hitched a ride on the ferry from Powell River back to Little River. K. Kaptein Eastbound Checklist Westbound Checklist |
| Logan Lake | Dec 20 | Logan lake 21st year, 29 species, # 698, 9 people total, 4 groups. 1 Northern Goshawk, 10 Boreal Chickadee on count day. CW was 1 rock dove,2 red-wing blackbirds. Ray Town |
| Lower Howe Sound | Dec 28 | |
| Mackenzie | ||
| McBride | Dec 15 | |
| Merritt | Dec 14 | |
| Naden Harbour | ||
| Nakusp | Dec 29 | The Nakusp Christmas Bird Count enjoyed a near record number of species this year. We had 50, surpassing our previous record of 51 species in 2011. The number of individuals was also above average, around 1550, (average is 1444). We recorded 2 species not seen before in our 47 year history: Snow Goose and Great Gray Owl. The mild winter we are experiencing meant that both Summit Lake and Box Lake were almost completely free of ice. This has never happened before on count day. This allowed some species to linger later than usual: Snow Goose, Trumpeter Swan, (recorded only once before), Greater Scaup, (recorded only twice before), and Killdeer, (22 years since our last sighting). Even some of the more common species such as Canada Goose, (which are far from regular in winter), were abundant this year. Unexpected “misses” included Belted Kingfisher, Hairy Woodpecker, Bohemian Waxwing, and Red-winged Blackbird. Gary Davidson |
| Nanaimo | Dec 27 | |
| Nanoose Bay/Lantzville | Dec 20 | |
| Narcosli | ||
| Nelson | Jan 4 | |
| Oliver-Osoyoos | Dec 28 | |
| Parksville-Qualicum Beach | Jan 5 | |
| Peachland | Dec 30 | |
| Pemberton-Mt. Currie | ||
| Pender Harbour | Dec 18 | |
| Pender Islands (incl. Mayne & Saturna) | Dec 14 | |
| Penticton | Dec 15 | |
| Pitt Meadows | Jan 4 | |
| Port Alberni | Dec 28 | |
| Port Clements | Dec 18 | |
| Powell River | Dec 21 | |
| Prince George | Jan 5 | |
| Princeton | Dec 15 | |
| Quesnel | Dec 22 | |
| Revelstoke | Dec 14 | |
| Rivers Inlet Mouth | ||
| Rose Spit | Dec 20 | |
| Rossland-Warfield | Dec 15 | |
| Salmon Arm | Dec 15 | |
| Saltspring Island North | ||
| Savona-Walhachin | Dec 22 | Savona 14th year, 31 species, # 765, 4 people 3 groups! Golden Eagle,1 Hawk Owl ,1Red-breasted Merganser. Ray Town |
| Sayward | ||
| Shuswap Lake P.P. | Dec | |
| Sidney-South Saltspring | Dec 14 | |
| Skidegate Inlet | Dec 15 | |
| Slocan Lake | Dec 28 | |
| Smithers | Dec 27 | |
| Soda Creek | Dec 29 | |
| Sooke | Dec 27 | |
| Squamish | Dec 15 | |
| Stewart-Hyder | ||
| Stuix-Tweedsmuir | Dec 21 | |
| Sunshine Coast | Dec 14 | |
| Terrace | Dec 15 | |
| Tlell | Dec 21 | |
| Tofino | Jan 4 | Had fun this past weekend doing a last-minute trial-run at starting up a long-overdue pair of Christmas Bird Counts in Tofino and Ucluelet ..really happy to be able to have 23 participants out between the 2 counts (max 10 parties in field simultaneously) ..Tofino’s was on a rainy and windy day, but not nearly as rainy and windy as it often is out here. 83 species for Tofino, 97 species for the weekend. Bird of the count goes to Northern Mockingbird – two of them! One found a week pre-count , which had its full tail intact the day before the count, but when we eventually found it on count day, it had no tail… Here are the numbers (and more details/discussion in the reports): Both counts combined: https://ebird.org/tripreport/317914 Tofino: https://ebird.org/tripreport/315561 Ian Cruickshank |
| Tumbler Ridge | Jan 5 | It was fairly cold but thankfully little wind. We had 11 participants who put in a lot of hours at feeders, on skis, hiking and driving. We managed 21 species and 496 birds, which compares favourably with previous counts. There were some surprises: no three-toed woodpeckers, no boreal chickadees, no crossbills, pine siskins outnumbering snow buntings and redpolls, and the first-time Christmastime records of great gray owl. American dipper is always nice to see as well, and we were not expecting waxwings or evening grosbeaks. Charles Helm |
| Ucluelet | Jan 5 | Had fun this past weekend doing a last-minute trial-run at starting up a long-overdue pair of Christmas Bird Counts in Tofino and Ucluelet .. really happy to be able to have 23 participants out between the 2 counts (max 10 parties in field simultaneously), and to have calm and dry weather for the Ukee count! ..88 species for Ucluelet, 97 species for the weekend. Bird of the count goes to Northern Mockingbird – two of them! ..found another one at Alder Park in Ucluelet on Sunday! (this one had its tail…) Here are the numbers (and more details/discussion in the reports): Both counts combined: https://ebird.org/tripreport/317914 Ucluelet: https://ebird.org/tripreport/315566 Ian Cruickshank |
| Vanderhoof | ||
| Vancouver | Dec 14 | |
| Vaseux Lake | Dec 21 | |
| Vernon | Dec 15 | |
| Victoria | Dec 14 | |
| Wells & Bowron Lakes | Dec 28 | We had a good turnout with 7 separate parties out looking for birds. There was a noticeable lack of birds this year. We had a big wind storm that broke the ice off Bowron Lake a couple days before count day. This may have chased the swans and ducks further down river outside the count circle. One Barrow’s Goldeneye was seen just outside the circle that we weren’t able to include in the count. It was the only duck seen all day. We also noted that no one saw a bird on the road collecting grit, which is rather odd. There were no crossbills, finches or siskins identified at all. We did identify a species new to the Wells/Bowron count. A Great Horned Owl was heard near Bowron River just after sundown. Birch Kuch |
| Whistler | Dec | |
| White Rock-Surrey-Langley | Dec 14 | |
| Williams Lake | Dec 15 | |
| Yalakom Valley | Jan 4 | We’ve been having a mild winter and not much snow here in the rugged Yalakom Valley outside of Lillooet. Both Yalakom and Bridge Rivers were ice free in our count area, temperature varied from +2 at Valley bottom to -5 as far up in elevation as was observed. 23 participants saw 363 birds (+4 count week) and 33 species (our average over 19 years is 29. Two new species were added this year: American 3-toed Woodpecker (probably thanks to local fires and bug kills) and Common Loon (due to open water). Highest count ever for Townsend’s solitaire at 71.Northern Pygmy Owl seen day before count week began and Great Horned Owl called the day after count week ended! Eleanor Wright |
| Yoho National Park | Dec 21 |
Updated Jan 13, 2025