Results of the 2023 Holiday Beach Christmas Bird Count

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.