Final results Dunrobin,On.-Breckenridge, PQ. Christmas Bird Count

2011/12 REPORT
The 31st Annual Dunrobin (ON) - Breckenridge (QC) Christmas Bird Count took place on Thursday, December 29, 2011. A total of 35 field observers and 7 feeder watchers recorded 50 species and 8,430 individuals. 

Weather Conditions:
A very cold day. If you were a polar bear you would have felt at home!  With an overnight low of -19c the temperature dropped to -21c at dawn and a wind chill of -30c!  Over the course of the day the temperature remained around -17c with a wind chill of -24c.   The winds were mainly from the W for most of the day at 15 km and skies were partly cloudy. 
A week earlier the Ottawa River was wide open but froze over just prior to the count.  On the day of the count, a few some small creeks and storm sewer outlets were open in the Kanata North area and there were a couple of small opening on the Ottawa River. The cone crop was again poor over most of the count circle but there was still a good berry crop including Mountain Ash, Buckthorn, and Crab-apple.

Sunrise: 7:42 a.m.
Sunset: 4:27 p.m.

Species:
Despite the extreme cold and quiet start it was a fun day in the field. Like the past couple of years, not a lot of activity but definitely lots of interesting observations.   Again, the few bird feeders that were full of seed had good concentrations of birds. The empty feeder syndrome continues in eastern Ontario?  Not sure why! 

 There were no new species found so both Boreal Owl and Northern Mockingbird are still likely candidates for next year.  A number of interesting observations were made, including:  Canada Goose, Bald Eagle, Snowy Owl, Northern Saw-whet Owl and Brown-headed Cowbird.

 New Species: No new species and the overall total remains at 110 species.

 

Record Highs:

Previous Highs are shown in parentheses followed by year.

·         Cooper’s Hawk 6 (4,3yrs.)

·         Merlin 3 (2,06,07)

·         American Robin 253 (34, 2004)

Tied Record Highs:

Previous record year in parentheses.

                                                                   Fox Sparrow 1 (1995)

Winter Finches:

·         Pine Grosbeak (1)

·         Purple Finch (5)

·         White-winged Crossbill (5)

·         Red Crossbill (0)

·         Common Redpoll (4)

·         Hoary Redpoll (0)

·         Pine Siskin (181)

·         American Goldfinch (861)

·         Evening Grosbeak (0)

A few Dunrobin-Breckenridge statistics:

Total Species:

·         Record High 68 (2001)

·         Record Low 32 (1999)

Total Individuals:

·         Record High 12,554 (1986)

·         Record Low 798 (1999)

I would like to thank the field observers and sector leaders for their great effort and my wife, Laurie, for preparing the wonderful post-count supper and to all participants who brought deserts, food and wine to celebrate the 31^st anniversary!

The tentative date for the 32nd annual Dunrobin-Breckenridge CBC is Saturday, January 5, 2013, hope to see you there!

If you wish to see the results from all of the CBC's since they began, visit the Audubon Society Website.

Good birding,
Bruce Di Labio
Dunrobin-Breckenridge CBC Compiler

Species Number Records Comments Canada Goose 9 American Black Duck 3 Mallard 20 Ruffed Grouse 9 low Wild Turkey 100 Bald Eagle 6   Sharp-shinned Hawk 3 Cooper's Hawk 6 * Record High Northern Goshawk 1 scarce nowadays Red-tailed Hawk 13 Rough-legged Hawk 6 Merlin 3 * Record High Rock Pigeon 491 Mourning Dove 222     Great Horned Owl 1 low Snowy Owl 1 scarce nowadays Barred Owl 1 Northern Saw-whet Owl 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 3rd record Downy Woodpecker 52 Hairy Woodpecker 62 Pileated Woodpecker 11     Northern Shrike 12 Blue Jay 276 American Crow 904 Common Raven 107 Horned Lark 1 Black-capped Chickadee 1280 Red-breasted Nuthatch 22   White-breasted Nuthatch 85 Brown Creeper 6 American Robin 253 * Record High European Starling 920     Bohemain Waxwing 195 Cedar Waxwing 123 Lapland Longspur 3 Snow Bunting 1786 American Tree Sparrow 140 Fox Sparrow 1 *** ties Record High Dark-eyed Junco 119     Northern Cardinal 35 Brown-headed Cowbird 1 Pine Grosbeak 1 Purple Finch 5 House Finch 3 White-winged Crossbill 5 Common Redpoll 4 Pine Siskin 181 American Goldfinch 861 House Sparrow 79 Total Species:  50 Total Individuals:  8,430 Record High* New Record** Ties Record High***            SPECIES RECORD  YEAR NUMBER OF FIRST YEAR LAST YEAR HIGH YEARS RECORDED RECORDED RECORDED 1 Canada Goose 284 1989 14 1983 2011a 2 Wood Duck 1 2006 1 2006 2006 3 American  Black Duck 148 1987 27 1982 2011a 4 Mallard 116 2011 28 1982 2011a 5 Northern Pintail 1 1994 1 1994 1994 6 Green-winged Teal 1 1994 1 1994 1994 7 Ring-necked Duck 2 94,06 2 1994 2006 8 Lesser Scaup 3 1993 4 1988 1994 9 White-winged Scoter 6 2006 1 2006 2006 10 Common Goldeneye 58 2006 8 1983 2006 11 Hooded Merganser 2 1993 6 1984 2006 12 Common Merganser 36 2001 8 1985 2006 13 Red-breasted Merganser 1 2001 1 2001 2001 14 Gray Partridge 61 1984 15 1982 2000a 15 Ring-necked Pheasant 1 1997 1 1997 1997 16 Ruffed Grouse 65 1989a 30 1982 2011a 17 Wild Turkey 228 2010 12 2000 2011a 18 Common Loon 1 2001 1 2001 2001 19 Red-necked Grebe 1 2001 1 2001 2001 20 Great Blue Heron 2 2011 7 1990 2011 21 Bald Eagle 9 2001 15 1983 2011a 22 Northern Harrier 3 2001 4 1994 2011 23 Sharp-shinned Hawk 5 2000 22 1982 2011a 24 Cooper's Hawk 6 2011a 17 1984 2011a 25 Northern Goshawk 6 1991 26 1982 2010 26 Red-shouldered Hawk 1 98,07,09 3 1998 2009 27 Red-tailed Hawk 40 2006 31 1982 2011a 28 Rough-legged Hawk 31 1988 26 1982 2011a 29 American Kestrel 17 1988 27 1982 2011 30 Merlin 3 2011a 6 1991 2011a 31 Gyrfalcon 1 94,95 2 1994 1995 32 American Coot 1 1993 1 1993 1993 33 Wilson's Snipe 1 1988 1 1988 1988 34 Ring-billed Gull 3 2000 3 2000 2011 35 Herring Gull 1225 2001 15 1983 2011 36 Iceland Gull 4 2000 4 1997 2004a 37 Glaucous Gull 15 2000 6 1995 2004a 38 Great Black-backed Gull 301 2001 10 1987 2011 39 Rock Pigeon 845 2002 31 1982 2011a 40 Mourning Dove 577 2002 31 1982 2011a 41 Eastern Screech-Owl 3 2005 11 1986 2007 42 Great Horned Owl 53 1988 30 1982 2011a 43 Snowy Owl 6 1988 12 1982 2011a 44 Northern Hawk Owl 2 88,01 9 1982 2011 45 Barred Owl 9 2011 26 1982 2011a 46 Great Gray Owl 6 2004a 5 1984 2009 47 Long-eared Owl 3 1982 8 1982 2000a 48 Short-eared Owl 5 1982 3 1982 1994 49 Northern Saw-whet Owl 2 88,89,11 10 1983 2011a 50 Belted Kingfisher 1  88,98,11 3 1988 2011 51 Red-headed Woodpecker 2 2005 2 2004a 2005 52 Red-bellied Woodpecker 2 2011 3 1989 2011a 53 Downy Woodpecker 89 1984 31 1982 2011a 54 Hairy Woodpecker 134 1984 31 1982 2011a 55 Am.Three-toed Woodpecker 6 1998 11 1983 2006 56 Black-backed Woodpecker 6 2000 19 1982 2006 57 Northern Flicker 2  95,95a 12 1982 2011 58 Pileated Woodpecker 29 2002 31 1982 2011a 59 Northern Shrike 25 1988 31 1982 2011a 60 Gray Jay 1 83,95 2 1983 1995 61 Blue Jay 566 1995 31 1982 2011a 62 American Crow 1024 2007 31 1982 2011a 63 Common Raven 167 2001 31 1982 2011a 64 Horned Lark 399 2001 29 1982 2011a 65 Black-capped Chickadee 1859 1983 31 1982 2011a 66 Boreal Chickadee 6 1987 10 1982 2005 67 Red-breasted Nuthatch 213 2000a 31 1982 2011a 68 White-breasted Nuthatch 179 2002 31 1982 2011a 69 Brown Creeper 41 2000a 30 1982 2011a 70 Carolina Wren 1 1988 1 1988 1988 71 Winter Wren 1 1993 2 1993 2004 72 Golden-crowned Kinglet 71 1983 24 1982 2011 73 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1 1995 1 1995 1995 74 Eastern Bluebird 6 1999 1 1999 1999 75 Hermit Thrush 1 2001 1 2001 2001 76 American Robin 253 2011a 23 1982 2011a 77 Gray Catbird 1 2007 1 2007 2007 78 Brown Thrasher 1 10,11 2 2010 2011 79 Varied Thrush 1 1988 1 1988 1988 80 European Starling 1196 2002 31 1982 2011a 81 Bohemian Waxwing 1315 2009 22 1982 2011a 82 Cedar Waxwing 273 2002 11 1985 2011a 83 Yellow-rumped Warbler 1 1983 1 1983 1983 84 American Tree Sparrow 316 1983 30 1982 2011a 85 Savannah Sparrow 1 2000 1 2000 2000 86 Fox Sparrow 1  95,11a 2 1995 2011a 87 Song Sparrow 6 1997 21 1983 2011 88 Swamp Sparrow 1  88,93 2 1988 1993 89 White-throated Sparrow 2 1997 9 1983 2011 90 White-crowned Sparrow 1 2006 1 2006 2006 91 Dark-eyed Junco 154 1985 31 1982 2011a 92 Lapland Longspur 31 1995 19 1982 2011a 93 Snow Bunting 4040 1986 31 1982 2011a 94 Northern Cardinal 79 2002 29 1982 2011a 95 Red-winged Blackbird 4 1999 9 1983 2011 96 Eastern Meadowlark 2 87,97,98 5 1982 2002 97 Rusty Blackbird 1 87,88,97 3 1987 1997 98 Common Grackle 2 82,00 9 1982 2001 99 Brown-headed Cowbird 11 1993 6 1982 2011a 100 Pine Grosbeak 277 2009 19 1982 2011a 101 Purple Finch 170 1993 16 1983 2011a 102 House Finch 107 1993 22 1988 2011a 103 Red Crossbill 10 1991 7 1982 2001 104 White-winged Crossbill 649 1989a 20 1982 2011a 105 Common Redpoll 2769 1994 25 1982 2011a 106 Hoary Redpoll 4 86,07 13 1982 2011 107 Pine Siskin 949 2000a 26 1982 2011a 108 American Goldfinch 1360 1995 31 1982 2011a 109 Evening Grosbeak 1931 1988 25 1982 2011 110 House Sparrow 1293 1983 31 1982 2011a

January 27 and 29, 2012 Fork-tailed Flycatcher in Florida

After reading a number of posts about a Fork-tailed Flycatcher near Ruskin, Florida I decided to take a quick run over to look for it since I was in the area for a few days. We arrived at 3:00pm and after a short while spotted the flycatcher at a distance sitting on a fence line. Had good views through the scope before it disappeared. At around 3:45pm it reappeared at the end of Lost River Trail and sat in one of its favorite trees and put on a wonderful display fly-catching. At that point we noticed that one of its outer tail feathers was missing. This was a first for my North America list, #715.

Fork-tailed Flycatcher

Fork-tailed flycatcher missing outer tail feather. 

Coming in for a landing. 

Perched in one of its favorite trees, the Fork-tailed Flycatcher would sit for a while before fly catching. 

The Fork-tailed flycatcher is a casual visitor to eastern North America. Most records are from the spring and fall season but a few occur during winter in Florida and Texas. 

Spent a couple of hours birding Fort DeSoto on January 29th. With the great weather there were lots of visitors to the park. At the North Beach a small number of shorebirds were noted including 16 Red Knot, 6 Black-bellied Plover and 3 Wilson's Plover. In the nearby woods, both Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers were plentiful, flitting about feeding.

American Oystercatcher

American Oystercatcher  feeding.

Forster's Tern stretching.

A Loggerhead Shrike waits for the right moment.

It changes perches before it strikes its prey.

A successful catch! 

A young  Royal  Tern still begging for food. 

Winter plumage Ruddy Turnstone feeding on the beach.

Willet

Turkey Vultures were very common. 

Wilson's Plover