Chwk Christmas Bird Count Results.

[Dave]

Hello fellow birders,

I had areas 4 and 5 today, which basically is the area surrounding and including Island 22. It sure was quiet today! I started in the dark just before 7 trying for owls at Island 22, but came up empty. Soon our birding group increased in numbers and we tallied lots of ducks, but not much else. It was pretty wet along the northside of Chilliwack! Here are the top 3:

Spotted Sandpiper - On the muddy sides of the Fraser side channel at the end of Wellington.
Green Heron - Along the Hope Slough just west of Menzies.
Horned Grebe - At the pond by the Island 22 gate.

Here are the rest!

Location: Chilliwack, BC, CA
Observation date: 12/15/07
Notes: Christmas Bird Count 2007, Rainy/Windy most of the day. Cold and Quiet.
Number of species: 48

Canada Goose 520
Trumpeter Swan 7
Wood Duck 48
Gadwall 25
American Wigeon 107
Mallard 512
Green-winged Teal 29
Ring-necked Duck 101
Bufflehead 67
Common Goldeneye 3
Hooded Merganser 41
Common Merganser 12
Pied-billed Grebe 3
Horned Grebe 1
Double-crested Cormorant 5
Great Blue Heron 13
Green Heron 1
Bald Eagle 12
Northern Harrier 1
Cooper's Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 3
American Coot 5
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Mew Gull 1
Glaucous-winged Gull 120
Rock Pigeon 3
Belted Kingfisher 2
Downy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 8
Steller's Jay 20
Northwestern Crow 134
Common Raven 3
Black-capped Chickadee 57
Brown Creeper 2
Winter Wren 3
Golden-crowned Kinglet 15
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
American Robin 5
European Starling 170
Spotted Towhee 23
Fox Sparrow 3
Song Sparrow 24
Dark-eyed Junco 116
Dark-eyed Junco 1
Red-winged Blackbird 6
Brewer's Blackbird 200
Pine Siskin 1
House Sparrow 5

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/canada)

[JeffOver]

Just a note to add to Dave's list:
The 116 Dark-eyed juncos refer to the Oregon subspecies, while the 1 Dark-eyed junco refers to the Slate-colored subspecies , found at Corbould Park by Hope Slough.

Also here's two pics from the day.
Belted Kingfisher-female (not the greatest photo)


Fox Sparrow (a little better)


--Jeff

[Deleted]

Hi, all.

Green Heron -- great find, Dave.

Since a comedy of errors prevented me from getting highlights to Gord in time to make the tally at the potluck, here are a few highlights from Area 2 of the Chilliwack circle (includes Lake Erroch and Harrison Bay):

We decided not to spend as much time at the slough area west of Lake Erroch where we usually get song birds, which meant that we arrrived at Harrison Bay earlier in the day than usual. Not a good plan. The wind was whipping up whitecaps on the bay, and even spray some of the time, and the rain was blowing in our faces for much of the rest of the day.

Some of the better species we did get were:
Greater Scaup
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Peregrine Falcon
Ruffed Grouse
American Dipper
Also Fox Sparrow -- a highlight because the only Fox Sparrow we found was of the Slate-colored form (Interior range, with gray head, small black breast spots -- see Sibley) This was the first bird of this form I've ever seen. It was in a bramble patch (naturally) just south of the RR crossing on Malcolm Road, which turns off Hwy 7 a short distance west of Lake Erroch store.

Oh yes, if anyone is wondering, Bald Eagles - 152 adults and 118 immatures. It was hard to get an accurate count as there were good numbers of them wheeling and soaring overhead for much of the day. Trumpeter Swans -- 21 in several small flocks.

Worst species missed include Common Raven and White-crowned Sparrow. Not for lack of trying!

When we counted up we were quite surprised to find we had 51 species, because much of the day seemed to be a washout.

A brief try at owling drew a blank.

Stan Olson
Abbotsford

[Dave]

Thanks for sharing Stan. Of interest is that we couldn't find a single White-crowned Sparrow either. In previous years we have always found an abundance of them in the hedgerows along Parr Road off Yale (even a White-throated a few CBC's ago), but this year not a one. No white-crowned, no golden-crowned. No Varied Thrush either.

Worst Misses?
-No Hairy Woodpeckers (not even at Island 22 - )
-Only 2 Downy's??? The weather perhaps?
-Where are the White-crowned Sparrows?
-We usually get Shoveler's at the end of Wellington - not this year.
-No Canvasback at Island 22.
-I even used the ipod to try for a Bewick's Wren at Island 22 - nothing.
-I spent most of my owling time trying for Western Screech Owl...perhaps I should have tried Barred or Great Horned, but you might as well shoot for gold, right ;D
-Raptor numbers were considerably less...probably the weather again.

Good score on the Slate-coloured Fox Sparrow, Stan. Wow!

Dave Beeke

[Gord]

Dave, great sightings. Sounds like there are two Green Herons in Chilliwack at the moment! The spotty is a great winter record! Glad the Horned Grebe hung around.

Nice find on the slate-coloured Fox Sparrow, Stan. Ive only seen them in the Valley once or twice even though they breed on Cheam Ridge.

As for our area. My morning got going a bit sooner than I wanted with rain and high wind kicking up at about 4am rattling the windows loudly. I was not impressed to say the least.

I headed out of the house at 6:30 with the wind still howling but no rain. I thought Id try for some owls before meeting Brent at 7:30. Like Dave and Stan, no luck on owls either.

After picking up Brent, we headed off to start the morning at Banford Road. I think our first bird of the morning was Common Raven. There were a lot of gulls circling overhead suggesting it may be a good gull day. As it got lighter, I thought I heard a Horned Lark, so we went for a walk hoping for a closer look. Brent then flushed three of them. Two adults and a juvenile huddled in against the wind and rain.







We then headed off to count the rest of the route. After finding a few nice birds, including some Brown-headed Cowbirds, and seeing the wind and rain settle down, we went back to Banford Road to check on the gulls. They had settled in close to the road. We were able to get Western, Thayer's, Herring and Glaucous-winged Gull.

Here is a picture of the Western Gull.


There were several of these hybrids. Almost Western but not quite. The shape, back colour and especially the smudging on the head indicated some Glaucous-winged Gull in the family. Here's two of four we saw in one area.





Also here was this young Great Blue Heron that was fairly tolerant of the car.



Further prowlings located a juvenile Northern Shrike. Brent had pished in a bunch of sparrows and it seemed like it had come to see what the fuss was about.




Brent found a Red-breasted Sapsucker and four American Robins; both good winter finds at the base of the mountain before we went up. Try as we might, we couldnt find a Varied Thrush. Fox Sparrow, American Dipper, Hairy Woodpecker, Bewicks Wren, Tundra Swan were some of several we missed but strongly felt we could/should see! A quick jump out of our count route for some gas (someone dropped the ball on the pre-count planning!!! ) did find us seeing two species we were mourning the fact we did not see (Merlin and Mew Gull). There's always a few 'misses' on every count.

We finished our day back at the big gull flock at Banford Road. Dave, on his way home, stopped in to double check the gulls and to say "hi" but the wind drove him and us away.

I think that's the highlights that I can remember this sleepy. We got 48 species and about 5500 individuals. Both species and individuals were down I think. If it was not for 2000 gulls, which I dont often get, it would have been lower. Thanks for coming out, Brent. I enjoyed it very much!

I stopped at the Potluck supper to hand in my data and to say hi. I would have stayed longer but half of the family was ill and had a bad day thanks to lack of sleep last night. Other birders I talked to thought it was a little slower than usual on their routes as well. Sounds like Jason and Bob had a good day getting close to 60 species in their area though!! Nice work guys! I didnt get a chance to phone to share our counts but should tomorrow or will read about it here if he gets a chance to get on.

Thanks to all who participated. Remember, stuff we see until the end of Tuesday is of interest for the count!

[Deleted]

It's rather ironic, we have adult and immature White-crowned Sparrows daily in our yard , a regular urban yard in Abbotsford, yet we couldn't find even one on the count. Also, we have both an adult male and first year male Slate-colored Juncos in our yard every day and we couldn't find one among the well over 200 juncos we saw on the count. You just never know.

But a major value of the CBC is to track long range population trends of these birds, so if the drop is not just a quirk of weather or whatever, we at least are contributing to understanding what's happening so that something can be done to reverse the trend.

Other common species we couldn't find were Pied-billed Grebe, shoveler, Green-winged Teal, Killdeer, Rock Pigeon, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, robin, Varied Thrush. I notice several people remarking on the Vancouver list that they aren't seeing Varied Thrush either, and a comment that the Varied Thrushes all seem to be on the west side of Vancouver Island.

Stan Olson
Abbotsford

[josterhold]

hello birders

here are the results from area 1 from the cbc on dec 15th.

our area is on the north side of the fraser river, in and around deroche. it was a windy, rainy day with things being fairly quiet. we managed to see 59 species but this is the lowest amount we have seen over the past 5 or 6 years.

pied-billed grebe 24
double-crested cormorant 11
great blue heron 17
canada goose 237
cackling goose 22
trumpeter swan 69
tundra swan 4
gadwall 219
american wigeon 913
mallard 2346
northern shoveller 30
northern pintail 6
green-winged teal 15
ring-necked duck 132
bufflehead 60
common goldeneye 22
barrow's goldeneye 6
hooded merganser 34
common merganser 18
bald eagle 67
northern harrier 1
red-tailed hawk 9
american kestrel 2
merlin 1
american coot 68
killdeer 3
mew gull 13
herring gull 5
glaucous-winged gull 242
belted kingfisher 2
downy woodpecker 5
hairy woodpecker 2
northern flicker 6
northern shrike 1
steller's jay 18
northwestern crow 90
common raven 8
black-capped chickadee 33
red-breasted nuthatch 1
brown creeper 1
bewick's wren 2
winter wren 1
golden-crowned kinglet 42
ruby-crowned kinglet 1
american robin 1
european starling 535
american pipit 11
spotted towhee 24
fox sparrow 2
song sparrow 25
white-crowned sparrow 6
golden-crowned sparrow 5
dark-eyed junco 147
red-winged blackbird 3
brewer's blackbird 34
brown-headed cowbird 2
house finch 5
pine siskin 20
house sparrow 12
total number of birds seen was 5793 with more than half of them being either a mallard or a wigeon.
2 birds we have never seen on the count before were the american pipits and the brown-headed cowbirds. biggest miss was the rock pigeon. usually we get loads of them but could not find a single one. they must have been escaping the wind and the rain in one of the many barns. also, no chestnut-backed chickadees.
no matter what the weather or the amount of birds seen or unseen it is always a fun day. i am looking forward th the harrison count on friday.

[greendale]

Thanks to those posting the stories, pictures and count of the birds you saw on the cbc.

[Deleted]

Hello, everyone.

Here are the results from Area 2 of the Chilliwack count on the 15th. This area is a narrow strip north of the Fraser River and includes Lake Erroch and Harrison Bay with adjacent fields south of Hwy 7.
Total species: 51.
Conditions: Windy with periods of rain.
Counters: Lynn Miller, Stan Olson.

Common Loon 4
Double-crested Cormorant 4
Great Blue Heron 6
Canada Goose 130 including 2 "Lesser" (parvipes subspecies)
Trumpeter Swans 21
Gadwall 4
American Wigeon 23
Mallard 739
Northern Pintail 12
Canvasback 207
Ring-necked Duck 2
Greater Scaup 2
Lesser Scaup 60
Bufflehead 69
Common Goldeneye 32
Barrow's Goldeneye 3
Hooded Merganser 13
Common Merganser 90
Bald Eagle - adult 152, immature 118, total 270
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Cooper's Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Peregrine Falcon 1
Ruffed Grouse 1
American Coot 100
Mew Gull 103
Glaucous-winged Gull 80
Belted Kingfisher 1
Downy Woodpecker 4
Northern Flicker 4
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Steller's Jay 13
Northwestern Crow 65
Black-capped Chickadee 21
Brown Creeper 1
Bewick's Wren 2
Winter Wren 2
American Dipper 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 13
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
European Starling 40
Spotted Towhee 19
Fox Sparrow 1 ("Slate-colored" form)
Song Sparrow 15
Golden-crowned Sparrow 5
Dark-eyed Junco 221
Red-winged Blackbird 30
Brewer's Blackbird 8
House Finch 2
Pine Siskin 140
House Sparrow 23

Stan Olson
Abbotsford