Monday, December 22, 2008

CBC

We did the 54th annual Sault Ste. Marie Christmas Bird Count on Saturday. I had the route C9, which extends from the Bushplane Museum to Boundary road, and up to Wellington/Trunk. It was my first time on this route, I usually do C8 which covers the waterfront from the Locks to the Bushplane. I had 32 species in the 8 hours I spent cruising the waterfront and the backroads, with a total of 584 individuals. Highlights were a Great Black-backed Gull and 5 Red-breasted Mergansers at the Pine St. Marina, a Black-backed Woodpecker at the Algoma U woodlot(!), a Northern Shrike at Bellevue Park, and a mixed flock of waxwings in the east end. I ended up with the highest species count of any route, which isn't really a surprise as the route is one of the better ones. For the weather, it started out at -23C (-11F) with a -32C (-25F) windchill, and warmed up to a toasty -13C (8F) by the afternoon. Clear, sunny skies were the bonus of the cold weather, and it has gone back to being cloudy and snowy already... The complete list is below the pics.

Northern Shrike at Bellevue Park
Black-backed Woodpecker at Algoma University

Canada Goose - 1
American Black Duck - 1
Mallard - 62
Common Goldeneye - 32
Hooded Merganser - 2
Common Merganser - 43
Red-breasted Merganser - 5
Bald Eagle - 4
Herring Gull - 6
Great Black-backed Gull - 1
Rock Pigeon - 31
Mourning Dove - 2
Downy Woodpecker - 2
Hairy Woodpecker - 1
Black-backed Woodpecker - 1
Pileated Woodpecker - 1
Northern Shrike - 1
Blue Jay - 1
American Crow - 6
Common Raven - 11
Black-capped Chickadee - 70
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 4
White-breasted Nuthatch - 4
Brown Creeper - 1
European Starling - 28
Bohemian Waxwing - 5
Cedar Waxwing - 15
Dark-eyed Junco - 2
White-winged Crossbill - 22
Common Redpoll - 38
Pine Siskin - 64
American Goldfinch - 117
Number of Species: 32
Number of Individuals - 584

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