37th Woodhouse Christmas Bird Count Results

(Image above: Trumpeter Swans – Photo by Member, Jan Grincevicius)

Blue Jay – Photo by Member, Larry Monczka

Report by Adam Timpf

The Woodhouse CBC is centred 7 km east of Simcoe, at the crossroads of Highway 3 and Cockshutt Road at Renton, and roughly covers from Port Dover to Waterford and just west of Simcoe to east of Jarvis. These are the results of the 37^th Woodhouse Christmas Bird Count held on Sunday December 17th, 2023. Thirty-three field birders covered the count area plus five feeder watchers.

Conditions were wet with rain and drizzle throughout the day, temperatures around 6-7 degrees Celsius, moderate south winds (16-21 km/h), zero snow on the ground, and plenty of open water as nothing was frozen. The mild temperatures leading up to the count contributed to us setting new count highs for 4 species of waterfowl, while the rainy conditions meant low numbers of woodpeckers, raptors, and other species that took shelter.

We tallied 87 species on the day which I think is quite remarkable given the rainy conditions and is equal to the average of the last 10 years, and above the 37-year average of 83. There were 2 additional count week species: Tufted Titmouse coming to feeders that remained holed up out of the rain, and a Turkey Vulture reported the day before on ebird. No new species were added to the count.

Total Species: 87.
Average for the last 35 years = 83.
Average for the last 10 years = 87.
Total Individuals: 18,264
Average over all 37 years = 24,757.
Average for the last 10 years = 18,692.

Highlights:
5 Canvasback are the first ones recorded since 2012
1 Red-headed Woodpecker (2nd year in a row after being absent since 2008)
1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet (rarely recorded)
1 Eastern Towhee (1st since 2017)
4 Fox Sparrow (2nd highest count and often missed)
1 Red Crossbill (3rd time ever on count)

New count highs:
105 Gadwall (81 in 2012)
9 American Green-winged Teal (8 in 2014)
100 Ring-necked Duck (28 in 2021)
40 Ruddy Duck (37 in 1998)
66 White-throated Sparrow (54 in 2005)

Low counts:
0 Rough-legged Hawk (1st miss in 37 years)
1 Belted Kingfisher (ties lowest)
0 Pileated Woodpecker (1st miss since 2008)
80 House Finch (new low, 90 in 2017)
322 House Sparrow (new low, 361 in 2022)

Below is the full species list: