The Egret Article

By: Jeremy Hatt

The 20^th Holiday Beach CBC took place on December 27 with 29 volunteers counting a total of 82 species and 62,905 individual birds. This is the third highest species total since the Count was started in 2005. Previous high counts are 94 (set in 2024) and 88 (set in 2023). This is a testament to the volunteers who put an exceptional effort into covering their areas and inspecting large flocks of birds closely for that one special species mixed in.

Temperatures ranged from 0-2C and skies were cloudy all day but luckily there wasn’t any rain (the days before and after the Count were miserable!). There was a light east wind throughout the day.

Cooler temperatures leading up to the Count meant that all inland waters were mostly frozen. However, Lake Erie and the Detroit River were open and significant numbers of waterfowl were scattered across the lake off of Holiday Beach and at the river mouth. No snow cover was present on the day of the Count. Tundra Swans (4,188), Canada Geese (10,548), and Mallards (8,206) were present in particularly impressive numbers. Winter conditions following the count have pushed most of these birds even further south; as in January and February, most of the waters of Lake St. Clair, Erie, and the Detroit River were completely frozen.

One bit of fortune in 2025 is that Boblo Island finally allowed access to Kory Renaud and me to bird there during the Count. This was the first time since 2019 that we’ve been able to cover the island, and subsequently, all the areas of the CBC. From the Covid-19 pandemic to construction on the middle portion of the island, access had previously been restricted. Birding the island helps give a fuller, more accurate snapshot of the birds present during the Count. Highlights from Boblo Island included large numbers of waterfowl just south of White Sands Conservation Area including 1,160 Canada Geese, 900 Tundra Swans, 260 Mallards, 1,500 Canvasback, and 2,500 Redhead. Three separate Ruby-crowned Kinglets were tallied from the south end of the island and 45 Black-capped Chickadees!

Highlights of the rest of the Count Circle included 2 Cackling Geese, 1 Long-tailed Duck, 1 Green-winged Teal (difficult on this Count), a Turkey Vulture soaring over Amherstburg (very few have attempted overwintering in Essex County this year), 5 Red-shouldered Hawks, 1 American Coot, 1 Iceland Gull, 1 Eastern Phoebe, 1 Gray Catbird, 3 Yellow-rumped Warblers (often missed on this Count), and 3 Field Sparrows. Once again, as we entered January and February and much harsher winter conditions, many of these species have not been reported since!

Several high counts were broken this year:

Trumpeter Swan – 7 (previous high of 4)

Tundra Swan – 4,188 (previous high of 1,505 set last year)

Mallard – 8,206 (previous high of 4,544)

American Wigeon – 42 (tied record set last year)

Redhead – 2,676 (previous high of 1,730)

Common Goldeneye – 1,301 (previous high of 318)

Blue Jay – 239 (previous high of 227)

Winter Wren – 8 (previous high of 6)

European Starling – 3,285 (previous high of 3,086)

Brown-headed Cowbird – 1,072 (previous high of 954)

Notable misses on the Count included Snow Goose, Hooded Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Double-crested Cormorant, Sandhill Crane, Great Black-backed Gull, Long-eared Owl, Peregrine Falcon, Horned Lark, Marsh Wren, Fox Sparrow, Rusty Blackbird, and Pine Siskin.

Many thanks to all the dedicated Area Leaders and volunteers for another great count and to Kory and Sarah Renaud for graciously hosting another excellent roundup. Special thanks to those who helped w/ the tally at the roundup.

Jeremy Hatt

By: Jeremy Hatt

The second Comber CBC took place on December 21, 2025. 22 keen participants volunteered for the Count this year, up from the 16 intrepid birders who covered the CBC in its inaugural year in 2024. Almost everyone who participated joined for a casual roundup at A&W in Comber to go over the results and discuss the highs (best birds, camaraderie) and lows (agonizing misses, the cold) of the Count. It was great to see many new faces on the Count along with the dedicated returning Area Leaders.  

The Comber CBC circle spans across Essex and Chatham-Kent Counties and includes several birding hotspots including Ruscom Shores Conservation Area, The Trans Canada Trail from Staples to Comber, Big ‘O’ Conservation Area, Comber Sewage Lagoons, Rowsom’s Tilbury West Conservation Area, Tremblay Beach Conservation Area, Stoney Point Sewage Lagoons, Tilbury Sewage Lagoons, Northside Park, and several parkettes along the Lake St. Clair shoreline.

The day saw a mix of partially cloudy and sunny skies with temperatures between -7C and -3C and moderate 20k/h west winds. Most inland waters and most of the edge of Lake St. Clair were completely frozen, which was very similar to the lake conditions during the 2024 Count. Very little snow was present on the ground.

A total of 65 species and 16,658 individuals were counted. This was several species down from the 2024 total of 76, which will likely be forever difficult to beat. It will be hard to recapture the magic of that first year!

The best birds of the count were Snow Goose and Glaucous Gull. Other highlights included 2,175 Canada Geese, 3,124 Tundra Swans, 402 Mallards, a Peregrine Falcon eating a Common Goldeneye, 384 Common Mergansers, 626 Mourning Doves, 36 Great Blue Herons, 1 Rough-legged Hawk, 8 Short-eared Owls, 1 Belted Kingfisher, 2,489 American Crows, 1 Northern Shrike, 1,710 House Sparrows, 802 Dark-eyed Juncos, and 5 Fox Sparrows.

Seven new species were added to the Count: Snow Goose, White-winged Scoter, Bufflehead, Peregrine Falcon, Pine Siskin, Rusty Blackbird, and Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Winter finch numbers were low again during the 2025 Count. Without snow, Horned Lark and Snow Bunting numbers were much lower than during the 2024 Count (Snow Buntings were almost absent!). The frozen waters of Lake St. Clair made it difficult to get a higher diversity of waterfowl and gull numbers were much lower than in 2024. Raptors were once again found in good numbers throughout the Circle, though, including Northern Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, Cooper’s Hawk, and Bald Eagle.

Notable misses included Cackling Goose, Mute Swan, Redhead, Lesser Scaup, Hooded Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Sandhill Crane, Great Black-backed Gull, Double-crested Cormorant, Red-shouldered Hawk, Eastern Phoebe (CW), Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Bluebird, Hermit Thrush, Cedar Waxwing, Purple Finch, Field Sparrow, and Common Grackle.

In just its second year, volunteers are already beginning to notice certain trends and becoming better acquainted with the unique spots to bird in their areas. Even though we haven’t even gotten out of this winter, I’m already excited for next year’s Count!

By Janice Boussey

A huge thank you to those members that participated in the Backyard Bat Acoustic Monitoring program in partnership with the Toronto Zoo. The zoo was gracious enough to share their data and give a virtual presentation at our October meeting. They provided a good overview of bats around the world and told us a little more about our local species.

It was an exciting summer watching the data come in at each site. By sharing this information perhaps you can fall in love with bats as much as our member contributors did. One of the questions asked by the project to each contributor was “has my attitude toward bats improved” to which the most common answer was “I have always loved bats”. No scary halloween monsters here, just sweet furry little fliers sharing our outdoor spaces.

A total of 18 sites contributed data to the project spread out over the county from May until September. 

Bat Monitoring Sites

For 4 consecutive nights volunteers mounted a bat listening device at each site. 

It is specially programmed to only listen for sounds of a certain frequency range, those of the bats. Needless to say we did not record all your backyard secrets – only the ones that the bats told

So what did they tell us?

Essex County Essex County Field Naturalists recorded 26,663 observations containing 7 of the 8 possible species! That’s a lot of bats.

Our Ontario bat species consist of big brown bat, eastern red bat, hoary bat, silver haired bat, little brown myotis, northern myotis, tri-colored bat and eastern small footed myotis. Only the big brown bat is not listed as endangered.

Data from each site was collected and uploaded to theToronto zoo. The zoo used a computer program to analyze the data from each site to get the initial results. They will be doing human verification of the data over the next little while. This will allow them to check for any errors or anomalies.

How did this region compare with other groups? 

3 other groups in Ontario also contributed data to the project. Our numbers trended very similarly to the other groups, with large numbers of big brown bats followed by smaller numbers of the other possible species.

Total species observations for each volunteer group. Species newly listed as endangered in 2025 are highlighted in yellow, species remaining listed as endangered are highlighted in red.

Big brown bats have adapted to live in urban areas more readily than those of it’s cousins. If you have bats in your attic, chances are they are big brown bats. It is no surprise then that big brown bats have higher population levels represented as a result

No recordings were found of the eastern small footed myotis in Essex County. This compares with the low numbers of this species by the other groups.

Where were these bats hanging around?

In your yards, of course! And also your pools, golf courses and out in the forests and farmlands. 

The monitoring sites were all on private property. Some sites were closer to homes and human activity than others. A wide variety of sites were used, in both urban areas and rural areas. What they had in common was that bats were found at every site. Many people may not realize that when the sun goes down and those bonfires get lit that you have guests arriving from above to join the party. Bats are just as likely to be hanging around your yard in the city as they are out in the county.

In fact 4 species were located at every single site (big brown, eastern red, hoary and silver haired). 6 sites recorded 5 species and 4 sites recorded 6. None of our sites had 7 or 8 species. All of these sites were spread evenly around the county. It mattered little if you were in a subdivision or out in the open or if you were in Windsor, Amherstburg or Kingsville, bats are all around us.

Bat Awards

These sites earned our “bat awards” because of the interesting observations they brought to light. Prizes consisted only of greater knowledge and understanding of our local bats. 

Small But Mighty Award- Tecumseh near Blue Heron Pond. This site recorded the lowest overall number of bats with 67. Not bad for a very new subdivision in a very urbanized area. However this site also recorded a tri-colored bat which was not detected in some of the sites with large numbers of bats.

Twins Award – Amherstburg – 2 sites were located quite close together although separated by a very busy road. Both in quite well developed subdivisions, one near a golf course, the other close to a pond and farm land. The golf course side had almost double the number of bats 1,576 compared to 690 across the street. The side with the lower number had 5 species while the other side had only 4. This shows that even sites close together can have very different populations and that more bats doesn’t always equal more species present.

Gimme Shelter Award- Staples – Some threats to bats are windmills and light pollution from greenhouses. That didn’t stop this site from attracting 6 species while being surrounded by both. A modest treed yard with a swimming pool gave the bats what they needed to hide from threats all around them here.

Bountiful Batty Award – LaSalle near brunet park – This site came in with huge numbers with the overall largest amount of bats detected at 8,018. 6 species were found here, only missing the small footed and northern myotis.

In Conclusion

Bats are often misunderstood. Studies like this help spread the word about how amazing bats really are. 

When you are out at night, take a moment to look up. You may be missing out on our other winged friends.

Janice Boussey