A superb effort by 30 bird feeder watchers who viewed for 56 hours produced 522 birds representing 23 different species in the annual Christmas Bird Count held last weekend.
However, three of these species; Barred Owl, American Robin and Dark-eyed Junco were not observed anywhere in the field.
Seventeen field surveyors worked singly, in pairs, and small groups for 58.5 hours, drove 555 km, and hiked 45 km to discover 38 species and 2,528 birds says compiler Lori Anderson.
"After all that effort, we topped our last year's count by four species but our total birds counted was less," said Anderson. "Field surveyors found more finch species than they often do. The open water allowed them to discover several species of waterfowl. A Northern Goshawk discovered in the southern portion of the count circle was noted for the first time on this count in over 10 years."
See: 39 species and 2,900 individual birds during annual count
And: It’s bird count day!
Feeder watchers noted that their feeders were not as well visited as they hoped for, possibly because birds were out enjoying the warm weather and finding some food away from feeders - and away from the eyes of the field observers.
"Our totals show what 47 bird enthusiasts can find in one winter Saturday in North Bay. It is, as always, a pleasure to compile when there is such effort put forth by so many."
