By Chris Bell
MINDEMOYA—Two thousand nine-hundred and forty-five birds of 45 species were counted on the 43rd annual Mindemoya Christmas Bird Count on Saturday, December 17. Uncommon birds for this time of year included a Canada goose on Hare’s Creek, one snowy owl, an American Robin, a red-winged blackbird and a hoary redpoll.
Most numerous birds this year were 760 American goldfinches, 378 black-capped chickadees, 210 pine siskins and 207 starlings.
Twenty-nine feeder watchers, including three new volunteers, took part this year. There were 21 birders, including three new recruits, in seven groups.
There had been lots of snow before count day, leaving 30 to 40 cm on the ground making some longer walks impractical. The Manitou River walk was cancelled but the Lake Huron shoreline walk went ahead with snowshoes and was much enjoyed.
The large inland lakes including Lake Manitou and Lake Kagawong were open but largely devoid of waterfowl. Six types of ducks were seen on the count, including a single long-tailed duck in West Bay. Thirteen red-necked grebes were also found in West Bay. There were very few common mergansers and almost no gulls this year.
Last year we found 44 bald eagles but many have moved away from Manitoulin this month after a successful nesting season and we counted only 14.
One snowy owl was reported to birders. We have now had a snowy owl on four of the last five counts.
There are more red-bellied woodpeckers here this year and 12 were reported on the count. Manitoulin is the furthest north that this woodpecker ventures and the first Mindemoya report was in 1987.
Blue jay numbers vary from winter to winter and this count of 141 is very low with most observers noting fewer than usual at bird feeders.
The usual selection of finches is here this winter. We had record numbers of both American goldfinches, 760, and purple finches, 142. There were several large flocks of pine siskins and common redpolls have started to move in. The single hoary redpoll was with a flock of common redpolls. Very few pine grosbeaks were reported.
Some lucky people were able to find evening grosbeaks. Evening grosbeaks have declined for unknown reasons throughout their range. We had them at Mindemoya on every count from 1974 to 1999 with counts in most years being over a hundred and a peak of 451 in 1987. The 10 found this year is the highest total since 2005.
Seven feeder-watchers had red-bellied woodpeckers and eight had cardinals. Dark-eyed Juncos were found at four of the feeders and tree sparrows at three feeders. No other sparrows were noted this year. Terri Thompson of Spring Bay reported 12 species and gets the 2016 Feeder Watcher Award.
The Mindemoya Christmas Bird Count is a project of the National Audubon Society and the Manitoulin Nature Club.
Here is the full list of birds seen: 1 Canada goose; 32 black duck; 88 mallard; 1 long-tailed duck; 4 bufflehead; 90 common goldeneye; 9 common merganser; 24 ring-necked pheasant; 7 ruffed grouse; 13 red-necked grebe; 14 bald eagle; 1 red-tailed hawk; 4 rough-legged hawk; 2 ring-billed gull; 5 herring gull; 44 rock pigeon; 137 mourning dove; 1 snowy owl; 12 red-bellied woodpecker; 30 downy woodpecker; 41 hairy woodpecker; 8 pileated woodpecker; 1 northern shrike; 141 blue jay; 61 American crow; 110 common raven; 378 black-capped chickadee; 20 red-breasted nuthatch; 46 white-breasted nuthatch; 1 American robin; 207 European starling; 104 bohemian waxwing; 32 snow bunting; 16 American tree sparrow; 13 dark-eyed junco; 19 northern cardinal; 1 red-winged blackbird; 1 common grackle; 4 pine grosbeak; 142 purple finch; 99 common redpoll; 1 hoary redpoll; 210 pine siskin; 760 American goldfinch; and 10 evening grosbeaks.
