Rare views
Annual Christmas Bird Count included some singular sightings within the region
KITCHENER — There was no partridge in a pear tree, but spotters in Saturday’s Kitchener Christmas Bird Count reported other delights.
The rarest sighting was an eastern bluebird; actually two of them.
“This is the first time we have had them on the count, although it was a species we kept expecting to get as a few will winter just south of K-W each year,” said Mike Burrell, a counter and compiler of the 84th count.
Another highlight: Two yellow-bellied sapsuckers.
“It was the first time we ever had two and only the third time ever to even have one, so pretty exciting,” Burrell said.
Another nice surprise was a grey catbird — only the fourth time one was spotted in the count.
Two common ravens were reported. “They’ve taken up residence in the region in the last few years,” Burrell said. “They’re still pretty rare, but they’re here all year now.”
Eleven bald eagles were counted.
“That’s pretty good for us. Cambridge usually gets a few more than us because they have a bigger stretch of river that stays open.”
Bald eagles in this area are a real comeback story, he said. Twenty years ago, the Kitchener count reported none. Populations were decimated by the agricultural insecticide DDT.
“DDT negatively impacts on their reproduction and part of that was eggshell thinning because it bioaccumulates in top predators like bald eagles,” Burrell said. “It had a really bad impact on birds of prey in general.” Canada banned DDT in 1972. The return of bald eagles “didn’t happen overnight,” Burrell said, “but they have come back.”
Kitchener counters spotted an above-average number of American robins; 187. Most robins fly south. Why do some remain?
“That’s a good question,” Burrell said. “You’d have to ask the robins.”
He went on to say male robins often stay further north. “It allows them to return to their breeding sites first before other males. If they’re the first ones back, they get to choose the best spots.”
Seven great blue herons were spotted. Their diet is not limited to fish.
“In the summer, I’ve seen great
blue herons eat meadow voles and mice and snakes,” Burrell said. “I’ve even heard of them eating chipmunks.”
Seventy different bird species were spotted on Saturday, the third-best total ever. “Our average is 61, so a very good year,” Burrell said.
A total of 31,603 birds were counted, well above the average of 28,776. This year’s numbers were primarily driven by large groups of American crows, Canada geese and mallards.
The lack of partridge was no surprise.
“The only official partridge in Ontario is the grey partridge, introduced from Europe,” Burrell said. “They disappeared from most of southern Ontario and we haven’t had any on the Kitchener (count) since 1965.”
He said many people refer to ruffed grouse as partridge, but that species has also largely disappeared from this area.
The Kitchener count, which started in the early 1920s but was not held every year, is part of a network of counts across the Western Hemisphere.
Each count covers a 24-kilometre diameter circle and is “a long-term monitoring tool for winter bird populations,” Burrell said.
The local count takes in all of Kitchener and Waterloo, the north end of Cambridge and parts of Woolwich, Wellesley and Wilmot townships. Cambridge had its own count on Sunday.
The number of Kitchener counters this year was 110.
Some hiked deep into the woods while others kept an eye on their backyard feeders. Most counters are members of the Waterloo Region Nature club.
Burrell, 33, who grew up in Heidelberg and now lives in Peterborough, is a zoologist who works for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.
An avid birder who has seen 385 species in Ontario, Burrell keeps tabs on rare sightings on the internet and will often hop in his car to try to see one. It doesn’t always work out. “I drove to Sudbury about 10 years ago with my brother looking for a grey-crowned rosy-finch, and we didn’t see it,” he said.
“It was seen before and it was seen days after we were there, but we just couldn’t find it the day we were there.
“That’s how it goes. You can’t always get them, and that’s what makes it fun. If there was a guarantee, there’d be no fun in that.”