45th Tobermory Christmas Bird Count (Dec 29 update)

A record high!

Date: Dec 20, 2017.

Participants: 40.

Weather: Temps: -5.3º C to 0.3º C. Wind: NW, 27.4 km/h to 59.5 km/h. Mixed sun and clouds. No precipitation. [Data from Bill Caulfeild-Browne's Tobermory weather station, thanks Bill!]

Total Species: 41 (average=40). Additional Count Week species seen (so far) include: Green-winged Teal, one near Cape Hurd.

Total individuals: 1108 (average=1646).

Counting forest birds at Emmett Lake, BPNP. Photo: Martha Allen.

Noteworthy Highs, Lows and Misses:

Wild Turkey: 29. Record high. Wild Turkey was first detected on the Tobermory count in 2008 and the growing numbers on the Peninsula reflect an ongoing increase throughout the Great Lakes area over the past decade.

Eastern Screech-Owl: 4. Tied for the second highest count (four were also detected in 2012). In 2013, seven were recorded (average=0.7).

Red-breasted Nuthatch: 155. A record high (average=41).

Common Raven: 13. Lowest count since 1975 when six were recorded (average=58).

Great Black-backed Gull: 0. This marks only the second time in 17 years that the species was absent from the count (average=4).

Common Goldeneye. A staple of the Tobermory CBC.

Summary: Individual birds were scarce although the species total (41) was close to the 45 year average and up from last year's tally (36). You may recall that extreme winter weather last year made for tough birding conditions on count day.

The low totals for Common Raven and Herring Gull may reflect changes in how our municipal waste is managed at the St. Edmunds Landfill site. While I have no direct knowledge of how things are done at our dump, many landfills have recently adopted the practice of compacting and covering freshly dumped waste at the close of each working day. Not surprisingly, such sites are far less attractive to scavenging birds. We'll watch for this in the coming years.

Once again thanks to all who contributed to a fun and successful day.

Trivia: Only seven species have been recorded on every Tobermory CBC conducted since 1973. They are: Common Goldeneye, Herring Gull, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Common Raven, Black-capped Chickadee and Golden-crowned Kinglet.

Feeder watch, August (high water) edition.

An unexpected goldeneye in Lion's Head.

My drive to town this afternoon wasn't much fun. As happened through much of southern Ontario, the road conditions deteriorated quickly with the arrival of freezing rain and dropping temperatures. I stopped several times to clear ice from my side view mirrors and wiper arms. My plan was to pick up some provisions and head home before the highway became impassable. I passed a freshly ditched pick-up.

My typical winter milk run through Lion's Head takes about twenty minutes and ends with a grocery stop at Foodland followed by a quick scan of the sheltered harbour. Some interesting ducks hung out here over Christmas and a few years ago Bob and Ann-Marie Taylor encountered a Common Eider, a Bruce County first. With its excellent lines of sight from the public beach and marina, the harbour can be thoroughly searched in only a few minutes.

Given today's crappy weather, I very nearly decided to skip the usual pause at the harbour. I'm glad I didn't. There were no oddities among the 90 or so Herring Gulls, but accompanying the handful of the usual Common Mergansers and Common Goldeneyes was a very fine looking male Barrow's Goldeneye! These photos are the best I could do given the rain, wind, surface chop and frequent dives by the duck.

Small numbers of Barrow's Goldeneye show up each year in Ontario, most reliably in the Ottawa area. There have been far fewer sightings on the upper Great Lakes. The most recent observations for Bruce County, as recorded in eBird, were in 1979 and 1981.

Common Goldeneye, a few anyway, find the Lion's Head Harbour pretty hospitable and I suspect the Barrow's Goldeneye will stick around for a while. I'll post an update should there be more sightings in the coming days.

Fowl highlights from CBC season on the Bruce Peninsula

Winter so far has offered a few goodies for the many birders who ventured out on any of the five Christmas Bird counts on the Bruce Peninsula. A highlight for me was this lovely male Common Goldeneye x Hooded Merganser hybrid found at the the Sauble River mouth by Jarmo Jalava on the December 22nd Wiarton CBC. What a beauty! Needless to say, this was a count first and indeed the first such county record in eBird.

January 1, 2017.

January 1, 2017.

There have been other noteworthy ducks. An immature male King Eider, a species uncommonly seen on the upper Great Lakes, was first reported by Andrew Keaveney on New Year's eve day. It's been present at the Sauble River mouth for several weeks although it can be tough to observe in a big swell.

January 1, 2016.

January 3, 2017.

January 3, 2017.

The Bruce Peninsula National Park CBC, held on December 14, may be remembered by most for the punishing winds and blinding squalls. Two waterfowl species - a Green-winged Teal hunkered down in the Crane River and a flock of Tundra Swans flying south over Tobermory - were count firsts.

Tundra and Trumpeter Swans typically don't overwinter on the Bruce Peninsula. A mixed trio, again at the Sauble River mouth, has provided a great opportunity to compare the two species.

January 3, 2017.

January 3, 2017.

January 3, 2017.

The town of Lion's Head, which falls just outside of the recently inaugurated Pike Bay and Cape Chin CBC circles, has hosted a confiding Ruddy Duck since December 23rd,  providing a first winter record for the Bruce Peninsula.

December 23, 2016.

December 30, 2016

Northern Pintail have been reported from scattered locations.

January 1, 2017.

Somewhat surprisingly, the species richness in waterfowl hasn't been matched by an increased abundance. For example, the two Common Goldeneye reported on the Bruce Peninsula CBC was a record low for this long-standing count.

No doubt, some good winter birding remains for those with a set of snow tires and the gumption to trudge through a squall or two!

December 14, 2016.

Lunch(es) at Cabot Head

After dipping on a Townsend's Solitaire observed at the BPBO this a.m., I headed over to the nearby Cabot Head light to eat my lunch (salmon salad on a bagel). What a relaxing scene. No people, scores of Turkey Vultures kettled overhead and the gorgeous blues and greens of Georgian Bay spread out beyond.

As noted in my last post, lingering winter weather on the Bruce Peninsula has made life tough for migrants. Today, the lighthouse attracted swarms of sluggish cluster flies which in turn attracted insectivorous birds including a Brown Creeper, four Eastern Phoebes and five (!) first-of-season-for-me Pine Warblers.

Bring on the warblers!

Snowed birds.

A lean week for some early migrants.

Change is coming...