Another Christmas Bird Count is in the books, with a number of new records! From the data file, we have records back to 2007. The most impressive of the records was the number of inidividual birds counted – over 11,000 (previous high of 9711). Plus 62 species counted this year, another record! (previous high of 58)
NUMBERS:
11,358 individual birds counted, a record high for all 17 years of data! (6905 last year)
614 (Total individuals) Species in Count Week or Unidentified (up from 264 last year)
59 Total species with 0 count (63 last year)
62 species counted (up from 58)
HIGHLIGHTS:
- Eastern Bluebirds
- 12 Bald Eagles counted by one team
- Many new records – detailed below
NOT COUNTED (highlights):
- Common Redpoll
- Great Blue Heron
- American Kestrel
- Snowy Owl
NEW RECORDS
|
Species |
2022 |
Past record |
Past record year |
|
Bald Eagle |
17 |
15 |
2020 |
|
Herring Gull |
2520 |
1841 |
2020 |
|
Belted Kingfisher |
3 |
3 |
1998/ 2005/ 2006/ 2013 |
|
Red-bellied Woodpecker |
17 |
11 |
2021 |
|
Pileated Woodpecker |
17 |
10 |
1999/ 2020 |
|
Red-breasted Nuthatch |
36 |
28 |
2020 |
|
White-breasted Nuthatch |
121 |
95 |
2018 |
|
Dark-eyed Junco – Slate coloured Junco |
228 |
171 |
2017 |
|
Common Grackle |
8 |
3 |
1983 |
REFLECTIONS:
- Weather plays a factor in a higher count, but so does feeder counts and splitting up a region into smaller areas so there is less travel time
- Connecting with the community and getting more people involved with the count could help so much!
- Discussion on spreading the word in advance
