Bundle up, birders, it’s time for the Christmas count
Finches not Grinches are expected at this year’s local Christmas bird counts.
Christmas bird counts in Windsor-Essex start Saturday in the Cedar Creek area. There are also oneday counts at Point Pelee Dec. 17, along Essex County ’s North Shore in Tecumseh and Lakeshore Dec. 22, and at Holiday Beach Dec. 29. The Detroit River count, which includes Windsor, is Jan. 1. “This year was predicted to be a good year for winter finches, things like common redpolls, evening grosbeaks. They’ve made their way further south this year because their food crops further north were very low this year,” Ojibway Nature Centre’s biodiversity co-ordinator Tom Preney said Monday.
Evening grosbeaks from the northern coniferous forests are yellow, black and white, and will add colour at feeders and in the local counts. There are already some reports of these winter finches appearing at backyard feeders, Preney said.
Snow tends to bring birds to feeders but birdwatching can be good in any weather, he said. People can report the birds they see at their feeders if their house falls within the count circle, which is 24 kilometres in diameter, or they can help other volunteers cover as much ground as possible and count birds that day.
The Christmas bird count dates back to 1900 and has become North America’s longest-running wildlife census. Scientists use the information to monitor the health of birds over time and to help species at risk.
Last year, more than 14,000 Canadians got involved in more than 450 Christmas bird counts across the country and recorded 2.4 million individual birds. In Ontario, 4,435 volunteers counted 231 species and more than 1.2 million individual birds.
While the Christmas counts have become a tradition for many birdwatchers, you don’t have to be an expert to participate. For more information on the Windsor and Cedar Creek counts, such as when and where to gather, call the Ojibway Nature Centre at 519966-5852. Contact hattjeremy@hotmail.com for more information on the Holiday Beach count, email eaglecoach@cogeco.ca for the North Shore count details and sarah.rupert@canada.ca for the Point Pelee count. “I find it more of a social event where it brings a lot of birders in the community together,” Preney said. “Generally, at the end of the day, there’s a compilation dinner where we get to tell stories about the day and some of the exciting finds we had throughout the day.” There are also counts in Blenheim Dec. 16 and Wallaceburg Dec. 27. For more information on the counts visit ojibway.ca/cbcsites.htm or ontarionature.org/cbc.