MINDEMOYA—2024 marked the 51st anniversary of the Mindemoya Christmas bird count held December 14. Initially started in 1974 by Chris and Joan Bell, the tradition is still going strong. Unfortunately, this year Chris could not participate due to failing health, but his spouse, Joan, represented the family and formed part of one of the nine field teams.
In total, there were 23 field team participants and 29 feeder watchers. Five people came all the way from Sudbury to participate and we were very grateful for their help in being able to cover the nine different parts of our count circle.
December 14 was decent weather-wise, with winds from the east between 10 and 16 kilometres per hour and the snow depth between 10 and 30 centimetres. Large water bodies were not frozen. Everyone was well dressed to be out in the field for the day and a total of some 60 hours was spent, covering some 518 kilometres. These statistics include two teams who walked a total of eight hours and covered 16 kilometres.
We saw a total of 50 species of birds, the most predominant of which were: friendly little black-capped chickadees, acrobatic American goldfinches (359), noisy blue jays (387), ubiquitous European starlings (277), cawing American crows (189), soothing mourning doves (174), dabbling mallard ducks (153), colourful rock pigeons (144) and shaggy-throated common ravens (139). In total, 2,991 birds were counted.
Of course, from my viewpoint because it was my first sighting, the snowy owl was the highlight. I must share how it unfolded. We had completed our count and were on our way back to Trinity United Church to meet up with the returning field teams. One of my birding partners said to me ‘You just drove by a snowy own on the hydro pole.’
“Yeah, right Chris!” I replied.
He repeated it and I looked in the rearview mirror, and, lo and behold, there was the owl. I must stress that after making sure there was no traffic in front of our behind me, I proceeded to make a u-turn on the highway and safely proceeded onto the shoulder. And there she was in all her glory. I was extremely excited since first thing in the morning, I had declared to my two birding partners that we would see a snowy owl. I was told by Chris, who is a very experienced birder, that this was a juvenile female because she had dark barring in her plumage. We got a good look and then I moved the car a bit closer whence she flew onto another pole further back in the open field.
At the end of the day, many of the team members regrouped at the church to begin calling the feeder watchers for their data. There were goodies for all including coffee and hot apple cider, a great way to end the day.
All in all, a great day of birding and we must thank all of our dedicated participants, both in the field and feeder watchers.
The Manitoulin Nature Club, which sponsors both the Gore Bay and Mindemoya counts, is always looking for more people who are passionate about birds. We would love to include you in either one of the Christmas bird counts next year. If you are interested, please contact us at manitoulinnatureclub@gmail.com. Or if you are passionate about nature in general, consider joining our active club that holds monthly meetings, outings throughout the year and sends out nature newsletters.
The tally for the 51st Mindemoya CBC Christmas bird count is:
Canada goose, two; American black duck, 11; mallard, 153; ring-necked duck, one; common goldeneye, 63; hooded merganser, 26; common merganser, 214; ring-necked pheasant, 18; ruffed grouse, 20; sharp-tailed grouse, 20; horned grebe, one; red-necked grebe, seven; turkey vulture, two; bald eagle, 33; red-tailed hawk, one; rough-legged hawk, seven; American coot, one; ring-billed gull, one; herring gull, 23; rock pigeon, 144; mourning dove, 174; snowy owl, two; belted kingfisher, one; red-bellied woodpecker, seven; downy woodpecker, 25; hairy woodpecker, 31; pileated woodpecker, 13; American kestrel, one; northern shrike, four; blue jay, 287; American crow, 189; common raven, 139; horned lark, one; black-capped chickadee, 489; red-breasted nuthatch, 12; white-breasted nuthatch, 35; golden-crowned kinglet, seven; European starling, 277; snow bunting, 82; American tree sparrow, 16, white-crowned sparrow, one; dark-eyed junco, seven; northern cardinal, 35; red-winged blackbird, two; common grackle, two; pine grosbeak, four; common redpoll, two; pine siskin, three; American goldfinch, 359; evening grosbeak,36.
Once again, I wish to thank John Diebolt and Rodney Thompson, who helped me organize this year’s count. Most of all, much gratitude to Robert Cacciotti (my husband), a genius with spreadsheets and programming them to deal with the bird count data in such an efficient way.
by Phyllis Cacciotti
Mindemoya compiler and president of the Manitoulin Nature Club
