Submitted by Tanya Markvart
The annual Christmas Bird Count in Bruce Peninsula National Park took place on December 14, 2023. It was a warm day, reaching 7C, with strong west winds. A total of 1,777 individual birds from 41 different species were spotted. The count resulted in high counts for several species, including Ring-billed Gull (40), American Crow (70), Cedar Waxwing (20), and Snow Bunting (292). The most numerous bird species found on the day was Black-capped Chickadee (360).
Bruce Peninsula National Park Christmas Bird Count volunteers spotted a couple of uncommon winter species for this area, including:
-One Black Scoter,
-One Peregrine Falcon (North American), and
-One American Robin were counted.
Low counts of some species were also observed for Bufflehead (2) and Mourning Dove (0). Although Mourning Doves were spotted during the week of the Christmas Bird Count, none were spotted on the actual day of the count which is an indication that numbers in the count area are low.
Tracking trends and outliers is one of the primary goals of Christmas Bird Counts.
The highest number of Bufflehead ever counted was 121 in 2003, and it has been observed in 40 counts. This year was the 4th time a Black Scoter has been seen in this count, with the highest count of 24 also being in 2003.
Thirty-seven people participated in the count this year. It was an unusually warm day and it was very nice to be out in the park. While the north and east side of the park was sheltered and calm, it was windy on the west.
Central Bruce Peninsula CBC Results
Submitted by Andrew Keaveney,
Pike Bay and Cape Chin CBC CEO
The two central Bruce Peninsula CBCs were enjoyed by all who attended and have once again provided a valuable snapshot of birdlife on the peninsula at a time of year when the Bruce received little coverage.
Given the mild December we’ve had, it probably didn’t come as a shock to many participants that waterbirds were around in both greater diversity and numbers. Grebes continued to show well and while Georgian Bay was mostly absent of diving ducks, on the Huron side the largest number were recorded on the Pike Bay count to date. Raptors were clearly scarce, and the Snowy Owls we’ve come to expect were absent for the second CBC in a row. Finches were likewise notably absent in diversity, with only American Goldfinches and Pine Siskins showing some numbers.
The Pike Bay count was held on Friday, December 29th. All waterbodies were open and temperatures fluctuated very little from 1–4 degrees Celsius; wind stayed low at 5–12km/hr; the skies stayed mostly cloudy with some early morning fog on the coasts and some light freezing rain covered binoculars sporadically during the day. This was generally speaking very good bird watching weather though. As always, a number of species were detected during count week (3 days before and after count day) that went undiscovered on count day.
New species: Cackling Goose (cw), Tundra Swan (21), Redhead (1), Lesser Scaup (1), Merlin (1)
Unusual species: Great Horned Owl, Barred Owl, Belted Kingfisher
High counts: Mute Swan (5), Greater Scaup (27), Bufflehead (37), Common Goldeneye (228), Hooded Merganser (53), Common Merganser (68), Red-breasted Merganser (31), Wild Turkey (249), Red-necked Grebe (11), Red-bellied Woodpecker (4), Black-capped Chickadee (547), Bohemian Waxwing (310), Dark-eyed Junco (12), Northern Cardinal (30), Pine Siskin (113)
Low counts: Nothing notable
Notable misses: Lapland Longspur, House Finch, Purple Finch, Snowy Owl, Red-tailed Hawk, accipiters, Common Loon
Count Week species: Cackling Goose, Gadwall, Northern Pintail, Song Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Purple Finch, Lapland Longspur… adult Golden Eagle missed by 1 day!
The Cape Chin count was held on Saturday, December 30th. Conditions were similar to the Pike Bay CBC but with no rain and some brief periods of extremely light snow fall. The sun even showed itself a few times. Barred Owl has still never been recorded on this count, which is rather astounding because it is certainly resident, as owl surveys during the current Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas have shown. Conditions for scoping grebes in the Cape Chin area of Georgian Bay were excellent and I suspect we spotted near every one of them!
New species: Canada Goose (2), Mallard (2), Hooded Merganser (9)
Unusual species: Cooper’s Hawk, Winter Wren and Common Merganser (8), formerly recorded only during count week, were recorded on count day for the first time, White-winged Scoter (2nd record), Great Horned Owl (3rd record)
High counts: Horned Grebe (35), Bald Eagle (14), Eastern Screech-Owl (4), Hairy Woodpecker (31), Snow Bunting (376), American Tree Sparrow (2), Pine Siskin (18)
Low counts: Ruffed Grouse (3), Herring Gull (7)
Notable misses: Brown Creeper, Bohemian Waxwing, Purple Finch and Evening Grosbeak—the last two species scarce to absent on the peninsula this winter
Thank you again for your continued participation in this very worthy endeavour. The counts could not be possible without the individual efforts of volunteers on count day and every last one of you contribute more than you know.
