After an amazing autumn with a bounty of long-lingering rarities in the East, it was with some excitement that planning for the Christmas Bird Count seemed to take on new meaning. The plethora of vireos and warbler species, especially in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, were being recorded into early December and seemed to fuel the anticipation of discovery that comes with this annual event.
As with fate, just days before count period was to begin, the whole region was encased in a long-lasting and vast cold front that dashed any hopes that fragile passerines would survive. Freshwater lakes and ponds froze early, sending waterfowl to the coasts, and after there were dramatic swings of weather conditions throughout the count period that negatively impacted the results.
The Atlantic region slid again in the number of completed counts to just 69, down two from last year. Nova Scotia remained unchanged with 35, New Brunswick completed 23, Newfoundland and Labrador eight, Prince Edward Island two, and, unfortunately, we have nothing to report from France's Overseas Collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon this year. Over 1800 people took part in all and, of them, 1135 braved the uncompromising weather as they took to the field.
Despite the dreadful conditions that cancelled counts and rescheduled others, and with compilers having few options other than to utilize holiday or weekdays as last choices, the total species list was only four short of last year with 171 species. Of those, 163 were during count days with an additional eight species during count week times.
Waterfowl were very well represented with a number of species that tempted some, mid-day, to abandon their count sections. Those birds included a Pink-footed Goose and a Greater White-fronted Goose, side by side, in Yarmouth, NS! For the second consecutive year, a Cackling Goose was found in Nova Scotia, this time in Baddeck. The only two Snow Geese were in Halifax, NS, and Brant were found both in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. With Harlequin Ducks on a watch list, we do like to take note of their annual abundance each year and this year was troublesome. There were 40% fewer birds than last year, totalling just 215; of that, 148 were along the NS coast. Tufted Ducks continue to favour St. John's, NL with 69 there, but one was also seen in Glace Bay, NS and another at Cape Sable Island, NS.
One raptor that is becoming much more frequent in the region is Cooper's Hawk. Previously, this accipiter was a very unusual visitor, only occasionally documented with a photo and usually in the fall. Although a total of four (3 in NS and 1 in New Brunswick) doesn't sound like many, those are but a representation of a larger number. For another year, the NB/NS border region of the Tantramar Marshes attracted a Golden Eagle, making that area its preferred wintering habitat. For the first year in many, there were no records for Broad-winged Hawk, however the Yarmouth, NS count scored a beautiful adult Red-shouldered Hawk, making it one of very few CBC records here in the region.
Of the expected shorebirds, Black-bellied Plover, Killdeer, Dunlin, Sanderling, and Purple Sandpiper were encountered in various coastal areas. Noteworthy was a single White-rumped Sandpiper, courtesy of the observers at Grand Manan Island in NB, and an unexpected Willet of the Western persuasion that was well photographed during and after the Broad Cove, NS count.
A first for NB was a Sora that was discovered during the Moncton, NB CBC on December 17 and, not surprisingly, was the only Rallid found.
Six species of owls were noted: Great Horned, Barred, Snowy, Long-eared, Short-eared, and Northern Saw-whet.
The annual and long-staying Yellow-legged Gull was found in St. John's NL & Lab, but apart from a few Mew Gulls and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, all was about par with previous years.
A single White-winged Dove was found at a feeder in Halifax, NS and a rare, juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker was found during the Economy, NS CBC.
It was evident in early fall that fruit trees would be laden due to the drought-like conditions we experienced in the summer months. Robins made quick work of those and by mid-December there was little left for the marauding Bohemian Waxwings, which arrived earlier than usual. Cedar Waxwings stayed longer and between the two species of waxwings, there was little fruit left for any lingering thrushes or Mimids. Over 6300 Bohemians were counted in the region plus another 1500 or so Cedars. Mimids included two Brown Thrashers, six Northern Mockingbirds, and a single Gray Catbird.
As eluded to earlier, in recent years with more mild and open weather leading up to count period, there has been a good variety of vireos and warblers. This year, there were no vireos to be had and just six species of warbler, including Orange-crowned, Common Yellowthroat, Pine, Yellow-rumped, Palm, and Yellow-breasted Chat. For comparison, this was about half the number of species identified last year.
A wonderful find was a Western Tanager during count week at Quispamsis, NB and an Eastern Meadowlark was found at Cape Tormentine, NB. For the second consecutive year, a Bullock's Oriole was discovered at a feeder in Cape Breton, NS and as last year, it was on the The Sydneys CBC.
Although all of our winter finches were accounted for, we had no significant push into the region of redpolls, crossbills, or siskins. Less than 300 Pine Siskins found their way onto tally sheets in the region.
The outlook for House Sparrow in the East doesn't look good but as sharply as the populations have dropped over the last 25 years, the results this year showed no decrease. Twenty-eight of the 69 counts recorded them and there was a marginal increase in the numbers. The total though was a still just a meager 1400.