St. Thomas Field Naturalist Club

Tag: Citizen Science Project

  • 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 FarmSparta Country CandlesCanadian Raptor Conservancy
    Follow Me NorthCatfish Creek C.A.Picard Peanuts
    Howes Family Farm MarketHawkeye Bird & Animal ControlSparta Lavender Farm
    Railway City BrewingCanadale NursuriesFingal Farm Supply
    From the MeadowAylmer Country MillsPinecroft
    Carquest Auto PartsBriwood Farm MarketM&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

  • 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 26th 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 26th.

    Jackie and Al Sharpe

  • 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

  • 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.