Carleton Place Christmas Bird Count 2005
Carleton Place Count: click for detailed statistics – species seen and their numbers by sector within the count circle.
The 62nd annual Carleton Place Christmas Bird Count took place on Tuesday December 27th 2005. The count area is a circle of 15 miles diameter centered on the bridge over the Mississippi River in Carleton Place and included Almonte, most of Ramsay and Beckwith, some of Drummond and an adjacent part of the City of Ottawa . In the morning the sky was clear with a temperature of -8°C and in the afternoon it was -3°C and cloudy. There was lots of snow on the ground but mild weather beforehand resulted in many streams and the Mississippi River being more open than usual. 39 field observers and 31 feeder operators took part.
The number of species seen was 47, which is above average. The number of birds counted was 7473, which is also above average. The all-time highs are 50 species and 8855 birds. No new species for the count were tallied, but the first American Black Duck since 1995 was found on the Mississippi near the Highway 7 bridge, the second-only Golden Eagle was seen near Ashton, and the second-only Carolina Wren was seen at a feeder in Carleton Place, the first since 1975.
There were also record highs counts of the following species:
Common Goldeneye 64 (previous high 43 in 1991)
Wild Turkey 169 (previous high 72 in 2004)
Barred Owl 2 (tied previous highs)
Black-capped Chickadee 1320 (previous high 1230 in 1994).
The count was organized by Cliff Bennett. At the end of the day the field observers gathered at the 7 West Cafe to see the field results displayed. Georgina Doe organized the feeder counts and Mike Jaques compiled the final results. The Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists sponsored the count.Team leaders in the field were Iain Wilkes, Mike Jaques of Carleton Place, Tine Kuiper, Lynda Bennett, of Ramsay; Brenda Carter, Merrickville, Al Potvin, Allan Goddard, Pip Winters, Almonte, Don Brown, Kanata, Arnie Simpson, Beckwith.
A list of all species seen and their numbers follows:
Canada Goose 14
American Black Duck 1
Mallard 5
Common Goldeneye 64
Common Merganser 5
Bald Eagle 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Northern Goshawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Rough-legged Hawk 2
Golden Eagle 1
Ruffed Grouse 3
Wild Turkey 169
Rock Pigeon 891
Mourning Dove 233
Barred Owl 2
Downy Woodpecker 77
Hairy Woodpecker 81
Pileated Woodpecker 4
Northern Shrike 6
Blue Jay 447
American Crow 390
Common Raven 11
Horned Lark 7
Black-capped Chickadee 1320
Red-breasted Nuthatch 12
White-breasted Nuthatch 116
Brown Creeper 3
Carolina Wren 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 6
European Starling 541
Bohemian Waxwing 850
Cedar Waxwing 55
Eastern Towhee 1
American Tree Sparrow 119
Song Sparrow 1
White-throated Sparrow 2
Dark-eyed Junco 80
Snow Bunting 1123
Northern Cardinal 48
Red-winged Blackbird 2
Pine Grosbeak 27
Purple Finch 3
House Finch 3
Common Redpoll 276
Pine Siskin 39
American Goldfinch 295
Evening Grosbeak 97
House Sparrow 91
Also seen in the count week, but not on the day, were Cooper’s Hawk, American Kestrel and Merlin.
Lanark Highlands Christmas Bird Count
The following is from Cliff Bennett, compiler of the Lanark Highlands CBC, which is centred on the village of Watson’s Corners, NW of Lanark Village in Lanark County:
The 3rd Annual Lanark Highlands Christmas Bird Count took place on Friday, Dec. 30. The weather was mild, with partly sunny skies and little or no winds. However, the back country roads were very icy and getting out to walk was downright treacherous. The count yielded a lower tally than last year, probably much to do with the icy walking conditions.
Twenty-five counters took to the field and recorded 36 different species , one more than last year’s record. However, the total number of individual birds was over 400 fewer than last year. The real success story though, was the count from eleven different feeder observers spread around the circles.
They listed 719 birds, up about 350 from last year’s count.
Three new species for the count were recorded; a goshawk, two Canada geese and a red-breasted merganser. One species conspicuous by its absence was the great gray owl and significantly lower scores than last year were listed for ruffed grouse, hairy woodpecker, blue jays, crows, chickadees, white-breasted nuthatches, Bohemian waxwings and pine grosbeaks.
New records were set for wild turkeys (100), rock pigeons, red-breasted nuthatches, juncoes, pine siskins, American goldfinch and house sparrows.