Christmas Bird Count – Fisherville, 2023
Report by the Haldimand Bird Observatory Photo, above: Sandhill Cranes – Photo by Member, Jeff Hiebert December 28th, 2023 was a warm, foggy, wet, and dreary Christmas Bird Count day but that didn’t stop our 22 participants from spotting a wide assortment of species. The lack of snow and cold meant low counts of Snow Buntings (3) and the complete absence of Horned Larks and Snowy Owls, but good conditions for a few surprises instead. An American Goshawk in zone 6 was the first to be counted since 2013 and is one of only 10 individuals across all counts (occurring in 8 other years since 1989). A Little Gull spotted mixed in with Bonaparte’s Gulls in zone 5 had not been counted since 2007 and is one of only 5 individuals across all counts too (detected in 3 other years…continue reading