Pete Read has forwarded a complete list of species and numbers for the Christmas Bird Count (CBC).
Numerous feeder counts were the latest to arrive. This makes the totals more important for comparing other sightings. We are interested in seeing if the London CBC contains the largest number of cardinals in the area. And yes, it looks like London is still the cardinal capital of Canada with a total of 747 birds.
Numbers were not up to last year's count of 863, but still ahead of the average for the last 10 years of 657. This was London's 101st count and theses birds have appeared on 95 of these counts. It's quite a feat to have the most cardinals on a CBC, what with all the other possibilities around. But the habitat here and the river valley all seem to provide the right protection winter and also the right kind off berries.
Of course we wouldn't have the numbers if they were not given a helping hand by all the bird feeders in and around the city packed with sunflower or safflower seeds. I mention the latter as squirrels don't like safflower. We see mourning doves at the safflower feeder as well, so it is good for at least two species and likely more.
It is interesting how cardinals reached London in the first place. Cardinals appeared as a southern bird at Point Pelee in the late 1800s. They disappeared for a few years, but returned to nest there in the early 1900s. Since then they have spread as far north as Ottawa and perhaps farther.
I suppose if the average temperatures get higher, they will spread even farther north - and with climate change this is a real possibility. The colour of the male - a bright red stands out so beautifully against the snow - gives you a lift to see one in the dark days of December and January. So keep the feeders filled and help them along. In temperatures below freezing they need all the help they can get. It would be nice if we could get that number up to 1,000.
In numbers of species we finally settled in at 73 - a very good number for an inland count. Ten-year average is 72. There were other large numbers of separate species that bodes well for the future. For example, 10 year average of red bellied woodpeckers is 50. Last year the count was 57 and this year, 73 were counted. It too is a southern bird and it's great to see them doing so well.
They get their red bellied name for the small patch of red on the lower abdomen of the male. It could have been called red headed, as there is a lot of red on the head of the male, but that name was already taken by a bird with a head that's totally red. There were none listed on our count as they are primarily a migrant bird while the red bellied can be classed as a resident.
There were also 73 downey woodpeckers, topping last year's high by two birds. The average is 57. There was a huge surge in the number of Canada geese at 7,538 , higher than last year's total of 5,847 and well above the average of 3,980.
Both sharp shinned hawks and Cooper's hawks were up from last year.
There were a few bird species down from last year's totals, including cedar waxwings - 65 versus 529. But Carolina wrens were up at 45 compared to 33, with the average of 21.
There were a number of birds in the one category including, of course, the white fronted goose, wood duck, coot, Iceland gull, lesser black backed gull, pileated woodpecker, hermit thrush, chipping sparrow, swamp sparrow. Starlings were down to about the average, about half of last year's numbers. American crows were down to 482 from more than 13,000 last year.
It was a good count and some birds are tending the way we would like them to go.
Tom Hayman can be reached at thomasnhayman@rogers.com
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