Owen Sound Field Naturalists – January, 2023 Bird Counts

Walter is an avid, experienced field botanist who focuses much of his botany explorations on Grey and Bruce counties, and from Newfoundland to Lake Superior and down into the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. His outdoor interests, which he has pursued since his teenage years, include tracking and wilderness survival, hiking, backpacking, canoeing, and just generally “wandering the wild areas”.

He is the curator of the Ontario Wildflowers website, as well as the Ontario Trees, Ontario Ferns, and Ontario Grasses websites, which are “go to” sites for parks staff, environmental consultants and others who are in the business of identifying wildflowers and other plants in the field. In addition to these sites, he has created many other websites relating to survival, tracking, and the outdoors.

In his work life he is a busy self-employed accounting software consultant, custom software developer, and accountant.

Walter and his wife Julie reside in Grey County on their 100 acre natural and farmland property.

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The local annual Christmas Bird Counts (CBC) have all been held, and here is a sampling from the count results: 

Tobermory – December 14 – Tyler Miller, Compiler

From sunrise to sunset on December 14, 2022, 33 volunteers searched over 300km of the Northern Bruce Peninsula, including throughout Bruce Peninsula National Park, trying to spot as many birds as possible. This was the 50th time that local birding enthusiasts have taken to the landscape for the Tobermory Christmas Bird Count. The Christmas Bird Count is the
longest running, most widespread bird census in the Western Hemisphere.

The first count took place at 25 locations in 1900, and today, there are more than 50,000 citizens participating at over 2,000 count areas. The data collected helps scientists describe multi-continent patterns in bird ecology and has been used in hundreds of conservation and climate-based scientific papers. The benefits of participating in the bird count are social, too!
The annual count builds camaradery, community and inspires seasoned and novice birders alike to cultivate a love for birds and birding!

This year’s participants in Tobermory’s Christmas Bird Count saw a total of 1187 individual birds representing 47 different species. On average, 40 species of birds have been spotted over the past 50 years, but the total number of birds seen was down this year. On average, over 1600 individual birds are usually spotted in the area’s Christmas Bird Count.

Some of the notable statistics from the 2022 count include:

• a new high record of 41 Canada Geese and 6 American Black Ducks were counted;
• the lowest number of Black-capped Chickadees since 1978 were counted; and
• Trumpeter or Tundra Swan, Green-wing Teal, and Merlin were all spotted, each for only the second time in Tobermory’s Christmas Bird Count history.

Parks Canada is pleased to participate in the annual Christmas Bird Count as the results gathered from this year’s survey will be used to help ensure the protection of this region’s natural heritage. The count was also an opportunity to celebrate the diversity and beauty of the region’s natural protected spaces with fellow birders, and to invite new birders into Bruce
Peninsula National Park.

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Kincardine – December 15 –  James Turland,  Compiler
Hi all; Because of bad weather on Kincardine’s count day only a few participants were out. They did manage to find 50 species. Along with the species found during count week that’s an impressive 64 species. Thanks so much to all who helped out and hoping for a better weather day next year. Cheers James.

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Neyaashiinigmiing – December 17 

The twelfth annual Neyaashiinigmiing (Cape Croker) Christmas Bird Count was held on Saturday, December 17, 2022. The day began with snow flurries and mainly cloudy skies, with sunny breaks later in the morning and through the afternoon. Winds were southwesterly, ranging from 13 to 25 kph. Temperatures hovered around -1.0°C all day. The waters of Georgian Bay and streams were open, but non-flowing inland waters were ice-covered. There was at least 10-15 cm of snow on the ground, with some of it having freshly fallen the previous night.

Fourteen participants tallied a total of 37 species, below the average of 39.7. The 769 individual birds counted was well below the average of 1,027. Ruby-crowned Kinglet was a new species for count day. Otherwise there were no big surprises, but 69 Bohemian Waxwings, 3 Evening Grosbeaks and a Pine Grosbeak were nice finds.

There were no high counts, but low counts were recorded for Long-tailed Duck (2, average 12), Ruffed Grouse (1, average 8), Blue Jay 2 (average 49), Golden-crowned Kinglet 2 (average 9). Notable misses were Red-bellied Woodpecker and Pileated Woodpecker (each missed on only one previous count). Winter finches were limited to the Evening and Pine Grosbeaks.
Chi Miigwetch to Neyaashiinigmiing First Nation community for hosting this always special birding event.
Compilers – Jarmo Jalava and Miptoon (Anthony Chegahno)

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Owen Sound December 17 Erik van Den Kieboom, Compiler:
The 2022-2023 Christmas Bird Count marked the 52nd year of the Owen Sound count. On December 17th, 45 participants tallied 10165 individuals of 69 species. The total number of individuals was down slightly compared to last year; however, the species count was higher. The weather proved to be admirable throughout the day, with no precipitation of any kind and temperatures hovering between -2 and 0 degrees Celsius.

Some highlights from this year’s count included the first Blue-winged Teal and Brown Thrasher for the count, as well as Rusty Blackbird, Pied-billed grebe, American Coot, and Common Grackle to name a few. Additionally, several rare species were recorded during the week of the count but not on count day, including Harlequin Duck, Grey Catbird, and Mountain Bluebird. The large Sandhill Crane flock found last year returned this year, totalling 652 individuals. For the sixth count in a row, a male Barrow’s Goldeneye was spotted in Owen Sound harbour. This rare duck has become quite the regular visitor!

This year, six species were counted in higher numbers than ever before: Canada Goose (2,608), Redhead (20), American Coot (5), Rock Pigeon (946), Common Raven (58), and Bohemian Waxwing (695). This has been an excellent winter for Bohemian Waxwings, with the previous high being 185! A few species were seen in lower numbers than is typically expected, including Bufflehead (9), Ruffed Grouse (3), and Snow Bunting (47). Oddly enough, no owls were found this year.

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Wiarton – December 18 – Jarmo Jalava, Compiler

The 48th Wiarton Christmas Bird Count (CBC) was held on Sunday, December 18, 2022 (it was actually the 51st anniversary of the count, but three years were missed). Temperatures ranged from between -1°C at 7:00 a.m. to 1°C at 5:00 p.m. under overcast to mainly cloudy skies. Light to moderate (9-15 kph) westerly breezes made inland birding pleasant, but winds were stronger at exposed areas along the Lake Huron shore. The waters of Georgian Bay and Lake Huron were open, as were faster-flowing creeks and rivers, but most interior waterbodies were ice-covered, as were some near-shore areas of sheltered bays of Lake Huron. Up to 15 cm of snow covered the ground in most areas.

Twenty-five participants and three feeder watchers tallied 62 (+ 1 count week) species, well above the long-term and 10-year averages of 50 and 53 species, respectively, but just shy of the record of 63 set in 1997. The total of 6,090 individual birds was also much higher than the previous overall (3,431) and 10-year (4,185) averages and the third highest total overall (the all-time high was 6,283 in 1997).

One new species, Eastern Bluebird, was recorded. This raises the overall count day total to 131 species (plus 6 additional count week species). Other good finds this year included Merlin (3rd count), Green-winged Teal (2nd count), Ring-necked Duck (9 th on count day and the first since 2001), and a count-week Red-winged Blackbird (5th count).

Record high numbers were recorded for:
Canada Goose (1,556, previous high 1,329 in 2021; for the first 18 years of this CBC, the high count was 33 birds, and pre-1995 this species was not recorded annually); Mute Swan (62, previous high 23 in 2021); Green-winged Teal (3, previously just 1); Bald Eagle (25, previous 21); American Crow (407, previous 257); Bohemian Waxwing (347, previous 326).

Other relatively high counts included Trumpeter Swan 16 (record 17), Ring-necked Duck 4 (record 5), Great Black-backed Gull 12 (first double-digit total since 1994, when 22 were observed), Pine Grosbeak 44 (first double-digit total since 2007) and Evening Grosbeak 99 (highest count since 1995 for this far-from-annual species). Aside from no Common Redpolls, there were no particularly notable low counts. Winter finches were limited to Pine Siskin (16), Pine Grosbeak (42), Evening Grosbeak (99) and Purple Finch (2), and American Goldfinches were at feeders in moderate numbers.
Thanks to all the volunteers for your efforts!
Jarmo Jalava

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Meaford – December 28 – Lynne Richardson, Compiler

Hello Meaford CBCer’s,
Here is a quick draft summary of our Meaford Christmas Bird Count:
The 52nd annual Meaford Count was held on Wednesday, December 28th under somewhat favourable conditions! After a rather intense winter storm over three days, a few days prior to the Count the weather cleared, temperatures warmed up and snow melted down somewhat for Count Day.  

The combined efforts of our 28 field observers resulted in the third highest total – 55 species – in the 52 years of the Count! This total continues the
trend of the past 10 years of finding over 50 species in the Meaford circle. Prior to that, the long-term average was 46 species. The top three totals have been in 2021 (61), 2020 (59), and 2012 (58).

Total individuals at 4,724 birds were slightly over the past-count average.
Two new species were added to the 52-year cumulative total for this count –Ruddy Duck (yay Team 5) and Winter Wren (yay Team2)!  This addition
brings the all-time cumulative total to 126 species.

A total of seven new Highs were recorded this year. which is higher than usual for new high counts. You’ll see on the attached tally sheet the new highs and the previous highs for these six species: Hooded Merganser, Horned Grebe, Red-bellied Woodpecker, American Robin, Bohemian Waxwing, Purple Finch and White-throated Sparrow. Eastern Bluebirds made an appearance again this year, continuing their trend of the last few years of overwintering in this area (5 of the past six years).
These results, along with time & amp; travel data will be posted on the Birds Canada Christmas Bird Count website.
It was a good count.  Hope you enjoyed it! Thanks again, and happy, birdy, New Year to all!
Lynne Richardson,
Compiler

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While we wait and wonder what weather is in store for us, some of our neighbours have wildflowers showing new growth.

I have been seeing flying insects outside near Woodland areas and some summer birds appear to be staying with us for the winter.  

So, the question David Turner, of Beaver Valley Birding, says he is being asked all the time is: “Where are the Snowy Owls this year?”. His answer: “Well, there was a collapse in the Lemming population last year, so the Snowy Owls population didn’t do too well. That means that there aren’t many down this way for this winter.”