The Massena-Cornwall Christmas Bird Count was held under ideal weather conditions with excellent visibility along the St.Lawrence River. With no rain or snow and limited amounts of ice and snow most participants had a great day in the field. I don't have the final results yet but overall at list 1 new species was found, a Winter Wren, on Moulinette Island. In fact Ben and I observed 2 wren species, the other a Carolina Wren on Ault island. Not bad for late December in eastern Ontario. Other higlights included 1 Red-throated Loon, 25+ Common Loon, 7 Red-necked Grebe, 1 Red-shouldered Hawk, 1 Snowy Owl, 400+ American Robin, 1 Song sparrow, 3 Northern Flicker to name a few! Other groups had impressive lists including Double-crested Cormorant, Horned Grebe, Great Blue Heron, Tundra Swan, American wigeion and Eastern Meadowlark. Lets hope we set a new record. I'll have the results availible end of first week of January. Heading to Dominican Republic soon!
One of the few Carolina Wren records for the count.
Pishing and squeaking played an important role for attracting species.
Ben hard at work looking for northern Flickers. Still no shoes!
The last of the freighters along the St. Lawrence before freeze up.
A female Pileated Woodpecker made a brief stop on a telephone pole at Upper Canada Migratory Bird Sanctuary.
Snowy Owls were found on the count for the first time in since 2008 reflecting the large southbound movement experienced this fall/winter.
A Winter Wren was new for the count. It was tricky to photograph since they don't sit still for very long.
Record numbers of American Robins were found, likley due to our mild fall and great berry crop.
Always a great bird to see on a Christmas bird count!
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