2024 Christmas Bird Count Results

The Christmas Bird Count Results are in!

Oveview and Trip Report

For our count day on December 15th, 33 counters observed 75 species and a total of 11,769 birds. Nice one! and what a great day for us!

We covered from Britannia and Woodfibre by team John and Zoe braving Howe Sound on boat; up to Tenderfoot Hatchery where Judy and Patrick watching Hooded Mergansers dine on the released salmon fry; and into the Alpine where Davina counted Canada Jays on the Red Heather trail. Conditions were partly cloudy, with temperatures hovering around the 3-4C mark, open water, and no snow on the ground or trees in the valley bottom.

Check out the eBird Trip Report

Highlights

Some highlights, beside the weather, were:

  • A diverse twack of waterfowl, esp. geese and a Wood Duck and raptors, including a congress of 421 Bald Eagles
  • A screech of 2601 Glaucous-winged Gulls (I suspect some double counting as they move around so much)
  • 1 Iceland gull
  • A gatling of 28 Downy Woodpeckers!
  • A small band of 5 Canada Jays (thanks to Davina for hitting the alpine!), and a big party of 117 Steller’s Jays
  • 1 lonely Mountain Chickadee from chickadee whisperer, Tiffany
  • A great trembling of Pine Siskins!!!! 5121 – one photo, painstakingly counted by Breanna had 1120 birds alone!
  • 1 Snow Bunting and 11 Western Meadowlarks found at Feather Park by Team Grant/Chris M.
  • A ubiquity of 494 Dark-eyed Juncos
  • 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler from Team Carl/Griffen/Ella
  • And the bird of the day – LEWIS’S WOODPECKER found by team Heather and Katharina

Another highlight was the post-count gathering chez Carl and Leona, for a count round-up and potluck dinner. Thanks for hosting us!

A new twist this year was that most of the counters entered data via eBird and shared it with the Squamish Environment Society eBird page, allowing us to see the numbers instantly!

Some MISSES for the day:

  • Harlequin duck
  • Shorebirds
  • Owls
  • Virginia Rail was quiet!
  • Red-breasted Sapsucker
  • Swamp Sparrow, another bird quiet this day
  • and House Sparrow! this one makes us laugh (we know they’re out there!)

A huge thank-you to all the counters, and to count organizer Christopher, for dedicating your time to this long-standing count that contributes important data to Birds Canada.

More about the Christmas Bird Count (Birds Canada)


Header Image: J Jongsma from Minneapolis, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons