Tag: Birds of Elgin County

2025 Christmas Bird Count Results

The day started out with freezing rain and continued till 3 p.m. This inclement weather saw a lower turnout of volunteers (46) and thus contributed to the lower numbers. That being said we had 6 count week birds which brought our total number to 71 species. We are really pleased with end result.

Highlights would be new high count of 30 Lesser Scaup seen by Joe Stephenson. Common Mergansers are increasing over the last 6 years. Dave Jolly saw our lone Common Raven. Common Ravens have been seen for the last three years and Red-headed Woodpecker seen last two years at Springwater. Peregrine Falcon seen last two years. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker has been seen reliable recently. Considering the weather 84 Cedar Waxwings were seen out enjoying the berries with the Robins.

Several Purple Finch and Common Redpoll were lone winter finches. Last sign of a winter finch eruption was in 2020. No White-winged Crossbills since then.

Low counts included Snow Bunting at 32, American Tree Sparrow at 48 and Rock Pigeon at 48.

Count Week Birds: Cackling Goose, Great Blue Heron, American Kestrel, Iceland Gull, Belted Kingfisher and Fox Sparrow.

Notable misses were Rough-legged Hawk and Horned Lark. To be expected in this weather, no warblers. Snowy Owl still a no show.

It was a trying day for our volunteers and we had new volunteers who tested it out. We hope you enjoyed the day and will join us next year as mother nature is constantly changing.

This year we put the pot-luck back on at the church. Everyone brought lots of food and had a great time. The inclement weather really reduced the audience to people who lived locally, although a few brave soles from farther away did make it in.

Trish Snider had put in a lot of effort gathering prizes for the volunteers who came out to celebrate the last outing of our 75th Anniversary on Boxing Day. Trish had over 35 prizes, so many people went home with a prize.
Thank you to all businesses that donated prizes.

Clovermead Adventure Farm	Sparta Country Candles	Canadian Raptor Conservancy
Follow Me North	Catfish Creek C.A.	Picard Peanuts
Howes Family Farm Market	Hawkeye Bird & Animal Control	Sparta Lavender Farm
Railway City Brewing	Canadale Nursuries	Fingal Farm Supply
From the Meadow	Aylmer Country Mills	Pinecroft
Carquest Auto Parts	Briwood Farm Market	M&M Meat Shop

Special thank you to Trish for all the effort she put into making the day truly memorable.

Thank you to our volunteers and wish you all great birding in 2026,
Jackie and Al Sharpe

January 7, 2026

Duck Rally 2025 Results

Annual Duck Rally started at Aylmer Wildlife Management Area with 30 species to start our day including a juvenile Trumpeter Swan. The coldest place this year was Belmont Sewage Lagoons due to extremely cold brisk winds from the north. Because of the weather the harbour at Port Stanley was a bust.
We had a great turnout with 28 people from the west end of the county, London and all the way to Stratford in the north east joining us for a great day birding. A Belted Kingfisher greeted us at Lake Margaret and that is where we got our Pied-billed Grebes and Blue-winged Teal.
Twenty of us went to The Buccaneer in Port Stanley for a very enjoyable lunch and finished at Port Stanley Lagoons where many got to see an immature Golden Eagle and crazy number of American Coots. We ended with 52 species for the day. Surprise of the day was no Wood Ducks.
Hope everyone who came out had a great time and look forward to the Rondeau Adventure on May 10th.

List of birds seen on Duck Rally on March 22, 2025

Canada Goose	Bufflehead	Belted Kingfisher
Mute Swan	Hooded Merganser	Blue Jay
Trumpeter Swan	Common Merganser	American Crow
Tundra Swan	Ruddy Duck	Common Raven
Blue-winged Teal	Mourning Dove	Black-capped Chickadee
Northern Shoveler	American Coot	European Starling
Gadwall	Killdeer	Eastern Bluebird
American Wigeon	Ring-billed Gull	American Robin
Mallard	Pied-billed Grebe	House Sparrow
American Black Duck	Horned Grebe	Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Pintail	Great Blue Heron	White-crowned Sparrow
Green-winged Teal	Turkey Vulture	Song Sparrow
Canvasback	Golden Eagle	Eastern Meadowlark
Redhead	Cooper’s Hawk	Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-necked Duck	Northern Harrier	Brown-headed Cowbird
Greater Scaup	Bald Eagle	Common Grackle
Lesser Scaup	Red-tailed Hawk	Northern Cardinal

March 23, 2025

75th Christmas Bird Count

With the snow fresh on the ground it is time to think about this years CBC.
We will be holding it as usual on Boxing Day the 26^th of December.
The declining bird populations really make this citizen science project extremely
useful in comparing declines and the occasional increase.
There was already a Snowy Owl and White-winged Crossbill sightings in Elgin.
Birds will be busy seeking bird feeders, make sure you have cleaned them recently.
If you are interested in participating eMail Al at asharpe@outlook.com or phone 519-633-4455.

Wishing everyone a Very Merry Christmas and great weather on the 26^th.

Jackie and Al Sharpe

December 6, 2024
Audubon 2024 Photography Award Winners

Sedge wren balancing on gray-head coneflower. Photo by Trisha Snider

Trisha Snider received the honorable mention in the Plants for Birds category.
She has been honing her skill on birds in Elgin and we are happy she has received this
world wide recognition. Trisha has donated her photos to the club November can raffle.
Around here she is considered a bird whisperer account she gets shots we can only dream of.

Click here to see all the Audubon photo contest winners

Congratulations Trisha;
Keep up the great work;
All the best going forward.

June 21, 2024

Duck Rally 2024 Results

Tundra Swans bathed in warm evening light by Trish Snider

Twenty one people took part in all or part of the day. Seventeen of us enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Buccaneer in Port Stanley. It was an overcast day with a temperature of 4 degrees to start the day at 8:00 AM at Aylmer Wildlife Management Area.

Snow Goose	Pied-billed Grebe	American Crow
Canada Goose	Horned Grebe	Horned Lark
Tundra Swan	Rock Pigeon	Carolina Wren
Wood Duck	Mourning Dove	European Starling
Northern Shoveler	American Coot	American Robin
Gadwall	Killdeer	House Sparrow
American Wigeon	Ring-billed Gull	American Goldfinch
Mallard	Herring Gull	American Tree Sparrow
American Black Duck	Greater Black-backed Gull	Dark-eyed junco
Northern Pintail	Turkey Vulture	White-crowned Sparrow
Green-winged Teal	Northern Harrier	White-throated Sparrow
Redhead	Bald Eagle	Song Sparrow
Red-necked Duck	Red-tailed Hawk	Red-winged Blackbird
Lesser Scaup	Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	Brown-headed Cowbird
Bufflehead	Red-bellied Woodpecker	Common Grackle
Hooded Merganser	Downy Woodpecker	Northern Cardinal
Common Merganser	Hairy Woodpecker
Ruddy Duck	Blue Jay

Above list of birds seen by the group.

Spotted by others while traveling to different locations were Long-tailed Duck, Great Blue Heron,
American Kestrel, Northern Shrike, Common Raven and Black-capped Chickadee. All in all a great day and we hope everyone enjoyed the day.

April 3, 2024

2023 Christmas Bird Count Results

Northern Shrike photo by Eva Visscher

This year was a really warm CBC with a high of 10 degrees Celsius, we started the day with rain but it proceeded to get drier as the day progressed. All the water in our area was open, yet that did not help with getting more waterfowl.

This year ‘s total of 71 species and 4 count week birds gave us a total of 75 species and total number of 18,003 birds. Since 1950 we have counted 1.25 million birds with an average of 15,423 and this year, we were right on with the average of 71 species. Over the years we have seen a total of 158 species during our CBC.

Click here for a complete list of this years birds.

For comparison last year we had 82 species and 14,525 birds. Last year our 4 Red-shouldered Hawk and 2157 Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) were Canadian high counts for the year and we tied with other areas with 2 Long-eared Owls.

A new species was reported by Al and Eva Hurst and Eva and Laurel Visscher, both groups got a Common Raven this year. Apparently Common Ravens were reported nesting in every county in Ontario this year.
Al and Eva Hurst had over 1000 Tundra Swans, a new high count for our club, the warmer climate is keeping them further north. Al and Eva got another high count with 8 Ruddy Duck. This was the first year of our count where we didn’t get an American Black Duck after reporting them for 73 years.

We reached a new high with 4 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, 9 Winter Wren and 62 Carolina Wren.

George Prieksaitis got our lone Short-eared Owl and 2 Rusty Blackbirds. Eva and Laurel Visscher managed to find a Northern Shrike, a nice bird for our CBC. Candy McManiman got our lone Gray Catbird (first reported in 5 years) and 2 Swamp Sparrows on the same bulrush. Bob Johnstone’s group was the only one to get 4 Ruby-crowned Kinglets (last reported in 2016) and 25 Cedar Waxwings.

With this warm green count we had only 3 Horned Lark seen by Ron Kingswood and Ed Pietrzak, they also ventured out in the rain to get 3 of our Eastern Screech-Owl and 2 Great Horned Owls in the damp night.

Cape May Warbler photo by Trish Snider

Trish Snider got a real good bird, Cape May Warbler at the corner of Centennial Ave and Roberts Line on count week. Karen Auckland got our lone Hermit Thrush at Lake Margaret on count week and Sally Martyn got our lone Purple Finch on her property also on count week. Jackie and Al Sharpe found the Black-billed Magpie that had been seen during the fall on Fingal Line, we found it south on Lyle Rd near the abandoned CSX tracks during count week.

Black-billed Magpie photo by Al Sharpe

January 13, 2024
2020 Christmas Bird Count Results

Results of St. Thomas Field Naturalist Club 2020 CBC held on Dec 26, 2020.

Photograph of Trumpeter Swan taken at Port Stanley Sewage Lagoon by Diane Dobson.

We had natures coat of snow to thank for our success this year. Birds were flocking to feeders and waters were a mixed bag of frozen and unfrozen. Ponds you would expect to be frozen were open and vice versa. We had 48 people out looking this year, they saw 80 species and a total of 17,836 birds. A Trumpeter Swan, Canvasback and Hoary Redpoll were seen on count week.

The unusual species we were expecting from the poor pine cone season up north partially arrived. We had George’s 12 White-winged Crossbill and 113 Common Redpoll with a Hoary Redpoll for count week. The hemp fields at the corner of Fairview and Dexter Line are attracting them in the hundreds. No Snowy Owl reported on count day.

The Ontario wing tagged (V53) Trumpeter Swan at Port Stanley Sewage Lagoons seen by the Auckland’s was a first for our CBC on count week and is still staying in the partially open waters of pond 2 with a Tundra Swan. The Tundra Swans set a new high of 364 almost a hundred more than the previous high set almost a decade ago.The Bufflehead’s stayed this winter with a good showing of 42 approaching our high of 50.

The resurgence of Bald Eagles was revealed in our count with 40 almost a 25 percent jump over our previous high. Everyone was hearing and seeing the noisy Carolina Wren and they established a new high of 30 also a 20 percent jump over previous high. The Common Yellowthroat seen at Yarmouth NHA by the Howe family was only the second reported for our CBC, the last reporting was over 4 decades ago.

With global warming maybe the Savannah Sparrows are thinking of wintering here. We had 3 this year which is a new high. The Turkey Vultures are really liking the Port Stanley area with 67 being reported.

This years totals mean the club has seen 1,081,399 birds with an average of 70 species a year. Our number of volunteers is still good with a club average of 39 and we had 48 volunteers out this Covid-19 season.

Click here for a complete list of this years birds.

All in all a very good day. You can see that each year has it’s surprises and misses, which makes doing the count such a joy.

January 31, 2021
2018 Christmas Bird Count

Barred Owl sighting at Storey Wetlands photo by Chris Leys

As December is upon us it is time to think about the 119th Annual Christmas Bird Count. This is St. Thomas’s 70th count. We will be doing the count on Boxing Day, Wednesday the 26th of December. This is the longest running citizen science project. Each year has new highs and a few surprise misses. We do our count in a 24 km circle. The volunteers can start any time they would like. There is a great pot luck dinner held at Knox Presbyterian Church at 55 Hincks St in St. Thomas after the count, doors open at 4:45 pm and supper at 6 p.m.

The Count is sponsored each year by Bird Studies Canada and National Audubon Society in the U.S. This year, the CBC will mobilize over 72,000 bird counters in more than 2,500 locations across the Western Hemisphere.

To learn more go to www.birdscanada.org/volunteer/cbc/

Audubon has a free Bird Guide app with over 800 species of North American birds, right in your pocket. The app is available for iPhone, Android and Amazon Fire tablets. This would be a good tool for the day.

The Christmas Bird Count is a tradition that everyone can participate in.
Birders of all ages are welcome to contribute to this fun community science project, which provided ornithologists with a crucial snapshot of our native bird populations during the winter months. To help count birds for science and participate in this year’s count.
Contact: Allan or Jackie Sharpe
226-271-7018 or asharpe@outlook.com or jrochefort@outlook.com

December 6, 2018
2017 Christmas Bird Count

The CBC took root over a century ago when 27 birders in 25 localities from Toronto, Ontario to Pacific Grove, California, led by ornithologist Frank Chapman, proposed a conservation-oriented alternative to the traditional ‘side hunt,’ a Christmas Day competition to hunt the most birds and small mammals. This alternative initiative to identify, count, and record all the birds found on Christmas Day 1900 has turned into one of North America’s longest-running wildlife monitoring programs.

St. Thomas has contributed since 1949, the 50^th year of the original count, making this year the 69^th count our club has participated in. We were over 1,000,000 birds counted in 2015. West Elgin participated 2 years earlier in 1947.

To participate in this year’s count.
Contact: Allan or Jackie Sharpe
226-271-7018 or asharpe@outlook.com or jrochefort@outlook.com

December 2, 2017
2016 Christmas Bird Count Results

Black Vulture in Port Stanley, photo by Ron Kingswood

The day was cut a little short by the heavy fog in afternoon. We had new species of Dunlin found on beach in Port Bruce and Black Vulture spotted on beach at Port Stanley during count week. We had new highs with Golden Eagle(3), Peregrine Falcon(2), Robin(501) and Fox Sparrow(10). This year had over 100 American Bluebirds and 2 Great Horned Owls. Other nice sightings were Greater and Lesser Scaup, American Coot, Glaucous Gull, Merlin and a good number of Bald Eagles(20). The count has had Turkey Vultures every year this century with the addition of the Black Vulture this year. Ruffed Grouse have been conspicuously absent for a decade. Also missing were Snowy Owl and warblers.

Here is the Species Total in pdf form.

January 10, 2017