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Woodhouse Christmas Bird Count Report

Woodhouse Christmas Bird Count Report

Brown creeper (George Pond photo)

Report by Adam Timpf

The 32nd Woodhouse Christmas Bird Count (CBC) took place Sunday, December 16, 2018.

The Woodhouse CBC is centred seven kilometers east of Simcoe, at the crossroads of Highway 3 and Cockshutt Road at Renton in Norfolk County and roughly covers from Port Dover to Waterford and just west of Simcoe to east of Jarvis.

Weather: The weather this year was relatively warm, being on the plus side of 0. The lack of precipitation made for comfortable birding conditions, but the lack of snow cover made it tricky to find the birds since they were not concentrated. The wind was mostly calm or light from the northeast.

Total Species: 82 with 1 additional Count Week species (average for the last 31 years = 80; average for the last 10 years = 86)

Total Individuals: 16,635 (average for the last 31 years = 25,827, average for the last 10 years = 24,038)

Number of participants: 37

New Species to the Count: None

Snow Goose (Len Grincevicius photo)

Count Week Species: a Snow Goose that had been hanging out with the Canada Geese in downtown Simcoe

Record Highs: (previous high in brackets)
Horned Grebe                             14         (5)
Brown Creeper                           18         (14)
Eastern Bluebird                        93        (86)
Common Raven                           2           (2) Resident pair near Port Dover

Record Lows: (previous low in brackets)
Great Black-backed Gull            1          (2)

Notable Absentees:
Brown-headed Cowbird: 1st year missed in 32 counts
Ruffed Grouse: 9th year in a row
Rusty Blackbird: 1st miss since 2009
A variety of ducks considering all the open water

Also Worthy of Mention:
Common Loon: 1 (8th record)
Trumpeter Swan: 1 (1st since 2010)
Eastern Phoebe: 1 (1st since 2007 and 4th record)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet: 2 (1st since 2006)
Evening Grosbeak: 27 (highest count since 1997)

 

Full Species List and Tally

Common Loon                       1
Horned Grebe                      14
Great Blue Heron                  2
Mute Swan                             5
Trumpeter Swan                   1
Tundra Swan                       41
Canada Goose                 7057
Cackling Goose                     5
Mallard                               799
American Black Duck        17
Gadwall                                 3
Redhead                             657
Greater Scaup                   315
Lesser Scaup                       24
(Scaup Sp)                            21
Common Goldeneye         132
Bufflehead                           152
Hooded Merganser             10
Common Merganser           44
Red-breasted Merganser   80
(Duck Sp)                            405
Bald Eagle                             16
Northern Harrier                  6
Sharp-shinned Hawk           3
Cooper’s Hawk                      2
Red-tailed Hawk                64
Rough-legged Hawk            3
American Kestrel               24
Merlin                                     2 
 

Wild Turkey                           78
Bonaparte’s Gull                     5
Ring-billed Gull                  163
Herring Gull                          71
Great Black-backed Gull       1
Rock Pigeon                        879
Mourning Dove                  481
Eastern Screech-Owl             4
Great Horned Owl                  2
Belted Kingfisher                    7
Red-bellied Woodpecker    40
Downy Woodpecker            82
Hairy Woodpecker               17
Yellow-shafted Flicker         11
Pileated Woodpecker            1
Eastern Phoebe                      1
Northern Shrike                    2
Blue Jay                              240
American Crow                  537
Common Raven                     2
Horned Lark                          3
Black-capped Chickadee   376
Eastern Tufted Titmouse     2
Red-breasted Nuthatch      19
White-breasted Nuthatch  98
Brown Creeper                      18
Carolina Wren                       12
Winter Wren                           1
Golden-crowned Kinglet     31
Ruby-crowned Kinglet          2
Eastern Bluebird                  94

Hermit Thrush                        1
American Robin                    32
Northern Mockingbird          3
European Starling              749
Cedar Waxwing                     46
Myrtle Warbler                        4
American Tree Sparrow     227
Chipping Sparrow                   4
Field Sparrow                          2
Song Sparrow                         51
Swamp Sparrow                    22
White-throated Sparrow     31
White-crowned Sparrow       5
Slate-colored Junco           950
Northern Cardinal              162
Red-winged Blackbird           2
Common Grackle                    1
Purple Finch                            2
House Finch                          90
Common Redpoll                  22
Pine Siskin                              15
American Goldfinch           278
House Sparrow                    734Total                                  82 Sp

 

 

 

 

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