MINDEMOYA—Amazing. Half a century of citizen science thanks to a dedicated group of enthusiastic birders over the years on Manitoulin Island! Started in 1900, the Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is North America’s longest-running citizen science project. People in more than 2000 locations throughout the Western Hemisphere participate in the CBC each year. The data collected by thousands of volunteer participants over the Christmas season contributes to one of the world’s largest sets of wildlife survey data. The results are used by conservation biologists, environmental planners, and naturalists to assess the population trends and distribution of birds.
The Mindemoya CBC has been run by Chris and Joan Bell for the past 49 years and they have contributed immensely both to the Manitoulin Nature Club and to birding overall on Manitoulin Island. A huge thank you to the Bells. Since it was my first year organizing and compiling the count, John Diebolt, Rodney Thompson and I met several times and learned the ropes as we went along. With their vast birding experience, their help was instrumental in a successful bird count. My husband, Robert, was also invaluable in working closely with us to design and set up automated spreadsheets to manage the count. Thank you all for your hard work in the background Robert, John and Rodney!
Saturday, December 16 was an overcast day with no snow on the ground. There was some drizzle during the day, winds between 15 and 25 km/hour and temperatures averaging between 1° and 4° Celsius. All of the major lakes and waterways were open, meaning that more ducks were present. Overall, it was a good day for the bird count.
At 7:45 am, seven teams (18 people) gathered at Trinity United Church in Mindemoya to pick up the report packages complete with maps. By 8:15 am, the teams headed out into the field, binoculars were raised to eyes and many teams got out and walked various parts of their assigned territory. We met back at the church at around 4 pm to discuss the results, call the feeder watchers, have some warm cider and goodies, thanks to Maria Diebolt and Sue Wadge. We shared bird anecdotes, one of which was me ripping a piece of trim off our vehicle trying to back out of a feeder watcher’s driveway (yikes!).
The data revealed the following: a total of 2,987 birds made up of 43 species. These numbers are on a par with Gore Bay as well as other neighbouring counts held this year. Compared to 2022, overall birds were up by 31.6 percent while the number of species only increased by two. The high number of goldfinches, crows and chickadees this year boosted our numbers.
The species and the number seen on the bird count included-three Canada goose, 23 long-tailed duck, 17 hooded merganser, 16 pheasant, six red-necked grebe, two ring-billed gull, 71 mourning dove, 20 downy woodpecker, 1 kestrel, 121 raven, 31 white-breasted nuthatch, 20 snow bunting, 10 cardinal, 147 pine siskin, 1 peregrine falcon, 8 black duck, 4 bufflehead, 46 common merganser, 11 ruffed grouse, 13 bald eagle-mature and juvenile, 26 herring gull, 1 hawk owl, 15 hairy woodpecker, 184 blue jay, 348 black-capped chickadee, 7 golden-crowned kinglet, 5 tree sparrow, 5 purple finch, 926 American goldfinch, 64 mallard, 11 goldeneye, 1 red-breasted merganser, 5 common loon, 2 sharp-shinned hawk, 118 rock pigeon, 12 red-bellied woodpecker, 9 pileated woodpecker, 532 crow, 28 red-breasted nuthatch, 52 starling, 30 dark-eyed junco, 11 common redpoll and 24 house sparrow.
photo by Rose Diebolt
Our most notable sighting, a bird that may never have been counted before during the CBC in Mindemoya was the northern hawk owl. A raptor of the boreal forests, the northern hawk owl behaves like a hawk but looks like an owl and is a diurnal hunter. What a find, Rodney!
On Lake Manitou a field team spotted a flock of 20 long-tailed ducks which was somewhat unusual.
And what about our dedicated feeder watchers! This year saw 31 participants throughout our count circle, and in total, those 31 watchers saw 790 birds with 24 different species represented. Ray Webster had the largest single count at his feeders with a whopping 81 birds and 14 species.
I have to say this was a big learning experience for me and I thank each and every one of you for your assistance and your devotion to our feathered friends. We look forward to recruiting additional bird enthusiasts for the 2024 Christmas Bird Count and if you are interested in joining us, contact the Manitoulin Nature Club at manitoulinnatureclub@gmail.com.
by Phyllis Cacciotti
