The Saugeen Shores CBC was held on Friday, January 2, 2015. Winds were light (up to 15km) and there was minimal snow cover. This was a pleasant change to the snow squalls the day before and we were pleased when the sun visited us for part of the afternoon. The Lake Huron shoreline was ice free. There were good-sized waves on Lake Huron, however, most of the inland lakes had a thin layer of ice and the streams and rivers were primarily frozen except in areas of greater water flow. A total of 35 people participated in the CBC. In total we saw over 11,000 individual birds and 55 species. This is just above the average number of species for the count. An unusual date for an Eastern Towhee at a feeder in Southampton was recorded. Although there was a lot of open water on Lake Huron the number of ducks and duck species anticipated was low. The number of Bald Eagles (35) was high but not the highest it has been, Golden Eagles are consistently found along the Saugeen River (3), most finch species were either absent or in lower numbers, Snowy Owls were above average at 11 sightings, 3655 Canada Geese was well above average, while House Sparrow and European Starling were both well below average.
Thank you to all who participated in the count.
CANADA GOOSE
AMERICAN BLACK DUCK
MALLARD
LONG-TAILED DUCK
BUFFLEHEAD
COMMON GOLDENEYE
COMMON MERGANSER
RED-BREASTED MERGANSER
RUFFED GROUSE
WILD TURKEY
HORNED GREBE
GREAT BLUE HERON
BALD EAGLE
SHARP-SHINNED HAWK
COOPER'S HAWK
RED-TAILED HAWK
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK
GOLDEN EAGLE
RING-BILLED GULL
HERRING GULL
GLAUCOUS GULL
GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL
ROCK PIGEON
MOURNING DOVE
SNOWY OWL
RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER
DOWNY WOODPECKER
HAIRY WOODPECKER
PILEATED WOODPECKER
AMERICAN KESTREL
MERLIN
NORTHERN SHRIKE
BLUE JAY
AMERICAN CROW
COMMON RAVEN
HORNED LARK
BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE
RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH
WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH
BROWN CREEPER
GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET
EUROPEAN STARLING
CEDAR WAXWING
LAPLAND LONGSPUR
SNOW BUNTING
EASTERN TOWHEE
AMERICAN TREE SPARROW
SONG SPARROW
WHITE-THROATED SPARROW
DARK-EYED JUNCO
NORTHERN CARDINAL
COMMON REDPOLL
PINE SISKIN
AMERICAN GOLDFINCH
HOUSE SPARROW