The Egret Article

By Jeremy Hatt

The Holiday Beach CBC took place on Wednesday, December 27th. The Count includes Holiday Beach Conservation Area, Big Creek, the Lower Detroit River north to LaSalle, Boblo Island and surrounding areas. Unfortunately, Boblo Island continues to be inaccessible due to construction on the island but the rest of the count circle received good coverage. 

25 volunteers clocked in 65 party hours during the Count, which included about 30km of total walking and about 250km by car. Volunteers wracked up a record-breaking 89 species for the count and 54,933 individual birds! Trumpeter Swan and American Coot were added during Count Week. Participants were excited to break the species count record for the CBC this year and it’s a testament to the skills and commitment of our volunteers that we reached 89 species at the end of December.

The Count was overall quite comfortable weather-wise. Skies were cloudy throughout the day w/ light drizzle in the early morning and in the late afternoon.  Winds were light to moderate out of the northwest and temperatures ranged from 7C to 9C. Mild temperatures leading up to the Count meant the entire area had open water resulting in higher than usual waterfowl counts and a few late species lingering in the area. 

Three new species were added to the Count this year. They were American Goshawk, American Woodcock, and Red-headed Woodpecker. Waterfowl highlights included 2 Snow Geese, 4 Cackling Geese, 27 Northern Shoveler (record high), 3,143 Mallard (good count), 364 American Black Duck (record high), 15 Northern Pintail (often missed), 40,501 Canvasback (record high), 43 Ring-necked Duck (often missed), 108 Bufflehead (good count), 208 Red-breasted Merganser (good count), 2 Long-tailed Ducks (rare for the count) and 4 scoter sp. (rare for the count). 

Other highlights included 11 Sandhill Crane (often missed), 123 Bonaparte’s Gull (good count), 1 Killdeer (rare for the count), 1 Long-eared Owl (sometimes missed), 1 Peregrine Falcon (often missed), 1 Northern Shrike (often missed), 1 Marsh Wren (often missed), 1 House Wren (rare for the count) 1 Brown Thrasher (rare for the count), 1 Field Sparrow (often missed), 1 Eastern Meadowlark (rare for the count), 25 Rusty Blackbird (often missed), 1 Purple Finch (often missed), and 3 Pine Siskin (often missed). 

Several record high counts were broken or tied this year (previous record in brackets) including Northern Shoveler – 27 (21), American Black Duck – 364 (268), Canvasback – 40,501 (11,326), Ring-necked Duck – 43 (6), Killdeer – 1 (1), American Robin – 145 (97), Fox Sparrow – 9 (3).

Notable misses for Count Day included Trumpeter Swan, Wood Duck, Redhead, Ruddy Duck, Pied-billed Grebe, American Coot, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Double-crested Cormorant, Red-shouldered Hawk, Rough-legged Hawk, Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Bluebird, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Lapland Longspur, Snow Bunting, and Chipping Sparrow. These misses indicate that in a particularly exceptional year, 100 species may be possible for the Holiday Beach CBC.

Many thanks to all the Area Leaders and volunteers for their efforts and to Kory and Sarah Renaud for hosting another excellent roundup. Everyone enjoyed the Renaud’s hospitality and Kory’s county-famous chili. Next year’s Count will take place on Saturday, December 28th.

By Jeremy Hatt

On November 18, the Essex County Field Naturalists’ Club joined up w/ the Windsor Feminist Bird Club to host a Big Sit at the Delaurier parking lot in Point Pelee National Park.  

A Big Sit is as fun as it sounds! The basic idea is for birders stay in one spot, often in a comfortable chair, for an extended period to watch all the birds that fly by or over and count the total number of species and individual birds. We chose the Delaurier parking lot as it is a big open space w/ a good clear view of the sky. Migrating waterfowl, raptors, and passerines all fly over this area of the park and so it’s a great place to get a good variety of birds. Mid-November sees good movements of raptors like Red-tailed Hawk, Bald Eagle, and Northern Harrier, blackbirds, and finches like American Goldfinch, Purple Finch, and Pine Siskin to name a few.  

In total we had 18 people in attendance and for many, this was their first time to an ECFNC event. This is also the first time ECFNC has partnered w/ the Windsor Feminist Bird Club, a connection that will hopefully result in more join events in the future! The Mission of The Feminist Bird Club is to “promote inclusivity and provide a safe opportunity for members of the LGBTQIA+ community, BIPOC, and women to connect with the natural world.” This mission aligns w/ the aim of ECFNC’s outreach to the community.  

The Big Sit started w/ introductions to both organizations and the volunteers who helped put together the event. We are grateful to Starbucks in Leamington for donating coffee for the event and snacks including cookies, croissants, and brownies were also provided to attendees. We birded from 9am to 12pm w/ a walk led by the Windsor Feminist Bird Club around the Delaurier Trail midway through the Big Sit.  

Highlights included 8 migrating Tundra Swans, several small groups of marsh and sea ducks overhead, 8 Red-shouldered Hawks, large flocks of Cedar Waxwings, Pine Siskins (200!), American Goldfinch, Snow Buntings, and blackbirds, and a good assortment of sparrows on the Delaurier Trail. For those that sat to the very end, the reward was a juvenile Golden Eagle soaring directly overhead five minutes before we packed up.  

This event was a great chance to meet new people and socialize w/ warm coffee and snacks while enjoying the crisp November air and letting the birds come to us. A big thank you to the Windsor Feminist Bird Club for helping host the event and leading a walk around the trails. You can learn more about the Feminist Bird Club and their various Chapters including Windsor at www.feministbirdclub.org.