Several dozen RH Naturalists and friends fanned out across the Richmond Hill Circle on Saturday, December 19, to particiapte in the 110th Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC).  Fifty bird species — 5704 individuals — were obsverved and tallied over the course of the day.  The count details are shown in the table below.  The results include some good and relatively rare (for Richmond Hill) birds, including Carolina Wren, Winter Wren, Barred Owl, Northern Shoveler and Green-wing Teal.  A Ruby-Crowned Kinglet was also found, the first in 15 years.  The final results will be submitted to Bird Studies Canada, which works with the Audubon Society in the US and elsewhere to analyze the data.

Several additional species including Fox sparrow and a hybird mallard/black duck will be included as part of Count Week, a period that spans 3 days before and 3 days after the official Count Day.  Watch this space and the January 2010 RHN Bulletin for detailed results and photographs.

The Richmond Hill Naturalists were just one group among thousands participating in the Christmas Bird Count throughout the western hemisphere. The count began in 1900 as an alternative to the then-traditional practice of the Christmas Side Hunt, in which sportsmen and women signed on to teams which then went out and vied to see which team could kill the most birds and other animals in the allotted time. An officer of the fledgling Audubon Society, ornithologist Frank Chapman started the new and less lethal tradition of the Bird Census. 27 birdwatchers in 25 cities (including Toronto) participated in that first count; last year more than 50,000 counters in 19 countries from Antarctica to Alaska took part.

The RHN has been participating in the Audubon CBC for most of the club’s 53-year history.

In keeping with club tradition, CBC participants met for a hot chili dinner, a glass of wine or two and some scrumptious deserts at the end of our count day.  This year’s dinner was graciously hosted by Joe and Berthe Agg — thank you for welcoming such a large group of tired and hungry birders into your beautiful home.  The chili was delicious and the evening was delightful.

The RHN would also like to thank Wild Birds Unlimited for their ongoing support of this event.

Richmond Hill – 2009 CBC Bird Census
Count Area:	1	2	3	5	6	7	8	9	Totals
Great Blue Heron		1						1	2
Mute Swan		1							1
Canada Goose	51	103	90	8	10	49	5	41	357
American Black Duck		4	45	2			1		52
Mallard		85	387	55	12	13	1055		1607
Northern Harrier					1				1
Sharp-shinned Hawk		1	2		1		1		5
Cooper’s Hawk		2	2	4			4		12
Red-tailed Hawk	2	2	6	10	6	5			31
Rough-legged Hawk								3	3
hawk sp.					2				2
American Kestrel			1	2	1				4
Ring-necked Pheasant									0
Ruffed Grouse	1								1
Ring-billed Gull	20	50	8	6		4			88
Herring Gull	1								1
gull sp.					2			8	10
Iceland Gull									0
Glaucous Gull									0
Great Black-backed Gull									0
Rock Pigeon	8	70	295	92	33	32		11	541
Mourning Dove	34	16	52	121	30	26	57	15	351
Eastern Screech-Owl						2			2
Great Horned Owl									0
Belted Kingfisher			1						1
Downy Woodpecker	5	4	12	3	5	9	8	3	49
Hairy Woodpecker	6		1	3	4	4	3		21
Pileated Woodpecker		2		2		1			5
Blue Jay	9	4	7	13	10	9	4	4	60
American Crow	19	9	9	9	2	48	69	8	173
Black-capped Chickadee	56	36	89	75	19	184	242	48	749
Red-breasted Nuthatch	2	1	6	2	4	10	3	2	30
White-breasted Nuthatch	7	3	23	3	5	5	12	7	65
Brown Creeper						1			1
Golden-crowned Kinglet						4			4
American Robin	1	4	1	12		7	2	1	28
Northern Mockingbird			1	2					3
Cedar Waxwing									0
Northern Shrike						2			2
European Starling	3	64	15	107	32	7	27	3	258
Northern Cardinal	21	6	37	9	10	14	12		109
American Tree Sparrow	9	4	27	6	9	26	1		82
Song Sparrow									0
Swamp Sparrow									0
White-throated Sparrow	5		1		1				7
Dark-eyed Junco	27	4	63	26	25	33	16	5	199
Snow Bunting									0
Purple Finch						28			28
House Finch	26	3	24	33	10		1	2	99
Common Redpoll									0
Pine Siskin									0
American Goldfinch	37	34	144	73	37	33	68	2	428
Evening Grosbeak									0
House Sparrow	8	3	110	45	15	3	6	13	203
Others:
Red-bellied Woodpecker					1	1			2
Chipping Sp					1				1
Carolina Wren	1								1
Trumpeter Swan		1					12	1	14
Northern Shoveler							1		1
Green-winged Teal							2	1	3
Barred Owl									0
Winter Wren			1						1
Ruby Crowned Kinglet				6					6
Fox Sp									0
Totals:	359	517	1460	729	288	560	1612	179	5704

This entry was posted on Monday, December 21st, 2009 at 11:55 pm and is filed under Birds, Frontpage. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.