9th annual Linwood CBC summary

2014 Linwood Christmas Bird Count

The ninth Linwood CBC was held Sunday December 28^th. Weather on count day was quite favourable. Temperature ranged from a low of -2° to a high of +1° degrees Celsius. Winds were moderate – light (13-26km/hr) and were for the most part out of the west and northwest. Visibility was good, which is crucial for the count. Owing to the recent warm spell, no snow was present for the entire count circle, and Conestogo Lake was completely open, a first for count day. A total of 32 participants gave the count excellent coverage and as a result there were 11 record highs and 2 record lows. A record total of 56 species was observed on count day, beating the old record of 55 species in 2012. An additional count-week species (Pileated Woodpecker) brings the species total to 57 species observed within the count circle.

Two new species were found on count day:
Red-breasted Merganser – 1 drake on Conestogo Lake in Area 6, found by Mike Burrell and Tony Straus. In 2012 several individuals were found on Conestogo Lake during count-week, but subsequently had moved on before count day. This is a new species for count-day.

Iceland Gull – 1 adult on Conestogo Lake in Area 6, found by Mike and Ken Burrell. In 2012 a first-basic bird was found on Conestogo Lake during count-week, but subsequently had moved on before count day. This is a new species for count-day.

Two additional species were found on count-day, which represent complete firsts for the count. The species listed below bring the counts cumulative species list to 86.

Lesser Black-backed Gull – 1 first-basic individual was found at Conestogo Lake, found by Ken and Mike Burrell.

Brown-headed Cowbird – 2 males amongst a large European Starling flock in Area 6, north of Dorking; found by Ken and Mike Burrell.

Unusual species:
Mute Swan – 3 birds were found in Area 2 (HC, 2^nd record; Julian and George Greer and Kellie Superina)

Glaucous Gull – 1 first-basic was found in Area 6 (3^rd record; Mike and Ken Burrell)

Great Black-backed Gull – 3 birds were found in Area 6 (3^rd record; Mike and Ken Burrell)

Peregrine Falcon – 1 bird was found in Area 2 (2^nd record; Kellie Superina)

Swamp Sparrow – 1 bird was found in Area 1 (3^rd record; Scott Gibson)

Lapland Longspur – 7 birds found in Area 3 (3^rd record; Brett Fried)

Birds of Prey:
The Linwood circle was created to document the high raptor numbers, and like pretty much every year conducted, this year was no exception.

Bald Eagle – 6 (this represents a minimum count, as there may have been as many as 8 birds (1 first-year, 1 second-year, 1 fourth-year, and 3-5 adults). Interestingly a nest found independently by Mike Cadman and Brett Woodman looks suspiciously like a Bald Eagle.)
Northern Harrier – 23 (HC; this is an amazing count for the species, beating the previous high of 8!)

Sharp-shinned Hawk – 4 (this is right on average)
Cooper's Hawk – 8 (ties the high-count)
Red-shouldered Hawk – 0 (we have not seen the long-staying individual at all this winter)

Red-tailed Hawk - 87 (a somewhat lower count than the past 4 years, still above the long-term count average)
Rough-legged Hawk - 113 (This is a good count, above the long-term average, and will likely be a provincial high for this count year)

Snowy Owl – 21 (this is another great count for this species, like 2013; birds were found throughout the count circle, however, Area 5 and 6 had the majority of birds.)  
Eastern Screech-Owl – 15 (2^nd highest count; despite the strong winds, birds were found in good numbers, partly due to excellent owling coverage)

Great Horned Owl – 3 (this is a decent count for the area)

American Kestrel – 7 (this is on the low end; I’m not really sure as to why we observed lower than normal numbers)

Peregrine Falcon – 1 (HC; this bird was found in Area 2)

Falcon spp. – 1 (likely a Merlin, however, the identification was not confirmed, found in Area 4)

Count participants (area leaders in italics).

Area 1	Fraser Gibson, Miriam Bauman, David Gascoigne, Scott Gibson, and Ken Quanz
Area 2	Julian Greer, George Greer, Kellie Superina, and Paul Schnarr
Area 3	Mark Cunningham, Brett Fried, and Katharina Walton
Area 4	Virgil Martin, Peter Jantzi, and Beth Martin
Area 5	Ross Wood
Area 6	Ken Burrell, Jim, and Mike Burrell, Mike Cadman, Curtis Combden, Tyler Giesler, Lillian Knopf, Mike Lepage, Heidi Staniforth, and Dave and Erin Stephenson
Area 7	Randy Fowler, Brett, Eily, and Gabe Woodman

2014 Linwood CBC Summary

Canada Goose	1,307 +	Snow Bunting	358
Mute Swan	3 +	Northern Cardinal	30
American Black Duck	41	American Tree Sparrow	85
Mallard	329	Song Sparrow	2
Common Goldeneye	10	Swamp Sparrow	1 +
Common Merganser	532 +	White-throated Sparrow	1
Red-breasted Merganser	1	Dark-eyed Junco	256
Ruffed Grouse	1	Brown-headed Cowbird	2
Wild Turkey	95	House Finch	58
Great Blue Heron	5	Pine Siskin	3
Bald Eagle	6	American Goldfinch	235
Northern Harrier	23 +	House Sparrow	822
Sharp-shinned Hawk	4
Cooper’s Hawk	8 +
Red-tailed Hawk	87
Rough-legged Hawk	113	Mallard X Am. Black Duck	1
American Kestrel	7	Gull sp.	25
Peregrine Falcon	1 +	Accipiter sp.	2
Ring-billed Gull	40 +	Buteo sp.	2
Herring Gull	1,248 +	Woodpecker sp.	1
Iceland Gull	1	Falcon sp.	1
Lesser Black-backed Gull	1
Glaucous Gull	1
Great Black-backed Gull	3
Rock Pigeon	1,671
Mourning Dove	20 -	Total Individuals	13,470
Eastern Screech-Owl	15	Total CW Species	1
Great Horned Owl	3	Total Species on Count Day	56
Snowy Owl	21	Total Species	57
Red-bellied Woodpecker	13
Downy Woodpecker	54
Hairy Woodpecker	12	Record high-count = +
Pileated Woodpecker	CW	Record low-count = -
Northern Shrike	6	New species for count = ‘bold type’
Blue Jay	153
American Crow	1,912
Common Raven	3	KM walked = 42.1
Horned Lark	34	KM drove = 995.3
Black-capped Chickadee	416	Hours walked = 26.75
White-breasted Nuthatch	47 +	Hours drove = 60.75
Red-breasted Nuthatch	3	Owling hours = 9.75
Brown Creeper	8	Owling km = 123.5
Golden-crowned Kinglet	33
European Starling	3,287
Lapland Longspur	7

Mute Swan, Area 2 (1 of 3 individuals found on count day; 2^nd record for the count), December 28, 2014. Photograph: Kellie Superina.

 

Male Red-breasted Merganser (at front; 1^st count-day record for species), with 7 male Common Mergansers, Area 6, Conestogo Lake, December 28, 2014. Photograph: Mike Burrell.

 

One of two male Brown-headed Cowbirds (first record), Area 6, north of Dorking, December 28, 2014. Photograph: Mike Burrell.

Light phase Rough-legged Hawk, Area 2, December 28, 2014. Photograph: Kellie Superina.

Before the count, I did an live radio interview with the CBC about Christmas Bird Counts and specifically local counts in Waterloo Region and the Linwood count. Click on the following link to hear it!!!

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/hundreds-participate-in-annual-christmas-bird-count-1.2881421