cktimes.ca Archives for Nature Link


Nature Link

With Blake Mann

Christmas bird counts

Tuesday, December 3, 2002

From December 14 to January 5, the 103rd annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC) takes place. Initiated by the National Audubon Society, it is expected that over 55,000 volunteers from all over North America will participate. It is a day of fun and unexpected surprises. At the end of the day, everyone gathers for supper and to tally the results.
The bird count was set up by Frank Chapman over a hundred years ago as an alternative to shooting birds for sport.
Last year, many records were broken, partially due to the milder weather that we have been experiencing in recent years. Bodies of water, usually frozen solid at that time, remained open for waterfowl to congregate. Rondeau Bay was a good example, as many record high numbers of waterfowl species were set.
The Wallaceburg CBC on December 29, 2001 set many records, including the first winter record of a Black-necked Stilt (thanks Larry!) in Canada. We tallied an amazing 87 species. Record highs for Canada included Northern Bobwhite (12), Red-headed Woodpecker (2), Tufted Titmouse (69-new Canadian high), Eastern Towhee (6), Red-winged Blackbird (2641), Yellow-headed Blackbird (2), Common Grackle (4400), and Brown-headed Cowbird (11,671).
Sometimes it becomes competitive, although that is not the purpose of the CBC. Usually the highest species totals come from the Long Point CBC or Rondeau (well over 100). The main purpose of the CBC is to provide long-term data for monitoring bird population trends. Birds are a good indicator of the state of the natural environment.
The following is a list of bird counts in the area: Kettle Point Dec. 14, Rondeau Dec. 15, Point Pelee Dec. 16, Strathroy Dec. 21, Wallaceburg Dec. 28, St. Clair Wildlife Area January 5.
There is a voluntary $5.00 fee for each count towards administrative costs. If one is a member of Bird Studies Canada, no fee is required. All participants will have their name published with the data for each count. Count results can be viewed at  HYPERLINK "http://www.audubon.org/bird/cbc/index.html"; Contact information is available at
 HYPERLINK "http://www.bsc-eoc.org/national/cbcontari...o.html";