By Mike Cadman – The 57th Guelph CBC took place on Sunday, December 17. Despite steady light rain for most of the day, 71 species were tallied, which ties for the record with 2020. See the table below for a full list of species and numbers.
A record total of 87 people took part(!), tallying 17,676 birds altogether, which represent considerable increases over 2022 (12,998) and 2021 (13,390). The high bird numbers this year were largely due to unusually large numbers of Canada Goose and other waterfowl, European Starling, Dark-eyed Junco, Pine Siskin and American Goldfinch.
A Red-necked Grebe was new for the count. Record highs were set for Red-breasted Merganser (12, previous high 1); Hooded Merganser (38, previous high 31); Great Blue Heron (14, previous high 13); Eastern Screech-Owl (27, previous high 16); Belted Kingfisher (21, previous high 15); Winter Wren (12, previous high 10); Northern Cardinal (199, previous high 172); Pine Siskin (798, previous high 562) – the latter corresponding with a very heavy crop of cedar cones.
Records were tied for White-crowned Sparrow (6, 4th count); Great Egret (1, 3rd count).
Other Highlights:
Sandhill Cranes (4, 2nd count) in the marsh north of Home Depot was the second highest total ever; 22 Eastern Bluebirds was the second highest total ever; More duck species were reported than usual, with Redhead, Greater Scaup (2nd count), Long-tailed Duck (3rd count), Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, and Gadwall among the less usual species.
Winter finches varied, with a single Red Crossbill and 21 Purple Finch being unusual. No Evening or Pine Grosbeaks or Redpolls were found, and Snow Buntings were also absent. Lows were noted for Ruffed Grouse (0, but birds were noted in Count week); American Kestrel (0). Raptors were generally low, probably due largely to the rainy conditions.
Other Count Week birds (seen within 3 days either side of the count day but not on the day) were Cackling Goose (at Guelph Lake), Ruddy Duck (first for the count, at McMillan Pit), Eastern Towhee (on Powerline Trail) and Common Grackle (at Ignatius College).
The high counts in this year’s CBC were likely due to the very mild fall and the fact that all water was open, including Guelph Lake and the Speed and Eramosa Rivers. These conditions are becoming more regular as climate change affects our ecosystem, bringing about changes in the number of birds occurring in the Guelph area in the late fall/early winter period. The CBC is a useful means of tracking these patterns, allowing us to contribute usefully to an understanding of the effects of our changing climate and the other factors influencing our bird numbers.
Thank You!
Thanks to group leaders for organizing the coverage of their sections, and the participants who did a great job despite the rain. (See the list of participants below, with group leaders shown in bold.) Special thanks also to Marlene Paibomesai and Nature Guelph for help with the website and logistics for the Tally Rally, and to Wild Birds Unlimited Guelph for hosting the Tally Rally and providing prizes for lucky participants.
Tamara Anderson, Susan Atkinson, Natasha Barlow, KB Barret, Andrew Bendall, Marnie Benson, Jenn Bock, Chris Bowyer, Heather Broddy, Mike Cadman, Sally Cheung, Scott Delyea, Jeff DeRuyter, Jer DeWaard, Weston DeWaard, Chris G. Earley, Karla Everard, Jasper Fekete, Kristyn Ferguson, Scott Ferguson, Tom Forestell, Brett Forsyth, Colin Gerber, Tim Griffiths, Corbin Grynol, Karl Heide, Erin Hellinga, Nathan Hellinga, Debbie Hernandez, Kyle Horner, Brian Husband, Matthew Iles, Nicola Inglefield, Dan Kennaley, James Kirkland, Laurena Kirkwood-Lazazzera, Tom Kleinbeernink, William Konze, Francine Lacoste, Joseph Langlois, Michael Lepage, Robert Linfield, Ron H. Lohr, Julie MacDonald, Sarah Mainguy, Claire McCann, Aleks Mell, Greg Meredith, Jennifer Minogue, Sandy Moores, Brad Morley, Graham Nancekivell, John Near, Dav Nemethy-Fekete, Colin Oaks, Sam Osman, Gard Otis, Marlene Paibomesai, Aspen Parks, Dean Post, Patty Quackenbush, Luke Raso, Julie Read, Jane Robinson, Carolyn Ross, Ann Schletz, Dan Schneider, Julie Scott, Hannah Sennit, Janet Sippel, Heather Staines, Greg Staines , Heather Sutton, Nina Szpakowski, Adam Thompson, Patrick Tuck, Pearl van Geest, Marina van Twest, Rohan van Twest, Hazel Wheeler, Glenn White, Marilyn White, Annika Wilcox, Christa Wise, Pat Woodford, Lesley Work.
Results of Guelph Christmas Bird Count 2023
|
Canada Goose |
5,512 |
|
Mute Swan |
5 |
|
Trumpeter Swan |
17 |
|
Tundra Swan |
0 |
|
Wood Duck |
2 |
|
Black Duck |
30 |
|
Mallard |
1,743 |
|
Bufflehead |
13 |
|
Common Goldeneye |
27 |
|
Hooded Merganser |
38 |
|
Common Merganser |
86 |
|
Ring-necked Pheasant |
0 |
|
Ruffed Grouse |
0 |
|
Wild Turkey |
63 |
|
Great Blue Heron |
14 |
|
Bald Eagle |
2 |
|
Northern Harrier |
3 |
|
Sharp-shinned Hawk |
2 |
|
Cooper’s Hawk |
7 |
|
Goshawk |
0 |
|
Red-tailed Hawk |
33 |
|
Rough-legged Hawk |
1 |
|
American Kestrel |
0 |
|
Merlin |
1 |
|
Ring-billed Gull |
502 |
|
Herring Gull |
181 |
|
Great black-backed Gull |
0 |
|
Rock Pigeon |
591 |
|
Mourning Dove |
533 |
|
Eastern Screech-Owl |
27 |
|
Great Horned Owl |
3 |
|
Long-eared Owl |
0 |
|
Belted Kingfisher |
21 |
|
Red-bellied Woodpecker |
25 |
|
Downy Woodpecker |
52 |
|
Hairy Woodpecker |
21 |
|
Northern Flicker |
2 |
|
Pileated Woodpecker |
8 |
|
Northern Shrike |
3 |
|
Blue Jay |
199 |
|
American Crow |
495 |
|
Common Raven |
22 |
|
Horned Lark |
1 |
|
Black-capped Chickadee |
988 |
|
Red-breasted Nuthatch |
43 |
|
White-breasted Nuthatch |
57 |
|
Brown Creeper |
18 |
|
Winter Wren |
12 |
|
Golden-crowned Kinglet |
72 |
|
Hermit Thrush |
1 |
|
American Robin |
386 |
|
Eurasian Starling |
2,475 |
|
Bohemian Waxwing |
0 |
|
Cedar Waxwing |
211 |
|
American Tree Sparrow |
345 |
|
Song Sparrow |
19 |
|
Swamp Sparrow |
4 |
|
White-throated Sparrow |
20 |
|
Dark-eyed Junco |
840 |
|
Snow Bunting |
0 |
|
Northern Cardinal |
199 |
|
Common Grackle |
0 |
|
Brown-headed Cowbird |
0 |
|
Pine Grosbeak |
0 |
|
Purple Finch |
21 |
|
House Finch |
63 |
|
Common Redpoll |
0 |
|
Pine Siskin |
798 |
|
American Goldfinch |
641 |
|
House Sparrow |
112 |
|
|
|
|
Additional Species |
|
|
Eastern Bluebird |
22 |
|
Green-winged Teal |
9 |
|
Greater Scaup |
1 |
|
Red-breasted Merganser |
12 |
|
Red-necked Grebe |
1 |
|
Long-tailed Duck |
1 |
|
Red Crossbill |
1 |
|
Northern Pintail |
1 |
|
Gadwall |
6 |
|
White-crowned Sparrow |
6 |
|
Sandhill Crane |
4 |
|
Peregrine Falcon |
1 |
|
Great Egret |
1 |
|
Redhead |
1 |
|
Mallard x Black Duck hybrid |
2 |
|
|
|
|
Count Week |
|
|
Cackling Goose |
|
|
Ruddy Duck |
|
|
Ruffed Grouse |
|
|
Eastern Towhee |
|
|
Common Grackle |
|
Above photo: Brett Forsyth