January 9th, 2012
Al Woodhouse from the Camp Heidelberg Outdoor / Environmental Education Centre has challenged me for the new year: Who can see the most birds on their centre property in 2012. Al is much better at identifying birds than I am, especially by their calls, but Laurel Creek has a wide diversity of habitats that different types of birds would use. It should be close. This morning I heard a robin. January 9th! Is winter coming this year at all?
For practice, on December 17 I participated in the Christmas bird count. This is an event where volunteers are assigned an area in which to count birds all day. Laura Ehnes from the Grand River Conservation Authority and I had a section that included the property at Laurel Creek. We started at 6:15 AM, calling for owls. No luck then, but we did see a great-horned owl getting chased by crows later in the day. We walked the property at Laurel Creek, Camp Heidelberg, and the Mill Race trail in St.Jacobs. We also criss-crossed the backroads by car. Overall, we saw 28 species of birds, and maybe 1200-1300 birds in total. Crows were the most common bird we saw, totalling about 400 individuals. Here is an initial report from Mike Burrell on the overall count.
“The 77th Kitchener CBC was held today (December 17). 65 species have been recorded on count day, nicely above the twenty year average of 59. Total individuals were about 29 000, well above the twenty-year average of 22 800. No new species were added to the official count list.
There are still a few counts to come in so some numbers will change.
Unusual species: Sandhill Crane (2nd record), Thayer’s Gull (2nd record), Northern Shoveler (3rd record), Peregrine Falcon (3rd record), “Oregon” Junco (4th record), Lesser Black-backed Gull (6th record), Chipping Sparrow (6th record), Hermit Thrush (10th record), White-crowned Sparrows (count week, 10th record), Hooded Merganser (12th record), Field Sparrow (12th record)
New highs: Northern Shoveler (4, previous high 1 in 1983 and 1984), Bufflehead (46, previous high 33 in 2005), Sandhill Crane (67, previous high 1 in 2005).
Other high counts (20 year average): Brown-headed Cowbird 86 (1.7), Red-bellied Woodpecker 34 (6.2), Pine Siskin 113 (21.6), Northern Harrier 5 (1.3), American Crow 5244 (1566, likely quite under-counted this year), Hooded Merganser 2 (0.7), Northern “Yellow-shafted” Flicker 5 (1.8), Purple Finch 10 (4.7), Common Goldeneye 206 (96.3), White-winged Crossbill 30 (0.5 with 2008 count removed), White-throated Sparrow 12 (6.2), Eastern Screech-Owl 17 (9.2), Hairy Woodpecker 49 (27.1), Belted Kingfisher 17 (10.3), Wild Turkey 73 (44.1), “Slate-colored” Junco 947 (608.1), Pileated Woodpecker 7 (4.5), Brown Creeper 39 (25.5), American Goldfinch 699 (456.4)
Low count counts (20 year average): Great black-backed Gull 1 (47.7), Horned Lark 1 (33), Common Redpoll 5 (98), American Kestrel 1 (9.8), Snow Bunting 74 (309), Cedar Waxwing 57 (153.9), Herring Gull 575 (1314), American Black Duck 35 (73.6).
Notable misses: Ruffed Grouse, Winter Wren, Iceland Gull, Glaucous Gull.
Here is a map showing the location of the Kitchener Christmas Bird Count.