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The Lucknow Sentinel, 2016-01-06, Page 7Warmest December on record affects Ontario Christmas Bird Counts James Turland Since its meager beginning over a hundred years ago Christmas Bird Counts (CBCs) have grown to be the largest citizen science pro- ject on the planet. There are now 460 individual count circles in Can- ada with nine right here in Grey and Bruce counties. This year's lack of snow and warmer temperatures turned up some rarities. It's amazing how often new sightings keep being recorded. A vermillion flycatcher found in Wallaceburg, a count near London, is a first for Ontario. The vermillion flycatcher's normal range is the Gulf Coast and Mexico. Closer to home a white -eyed vireo was discovered on the Pike Bay count. The White -eyed vireo's normal summer home is the Caro- linian forest and they are rarely found in Ontario any time of year. The Saugeen Shores count added five new species including the har- lequin duck and the barred owl. Of course birders like to find the mega -rarities, but the data col- lected on common birds is most useful. The results are used by biol- ogists and naturalists to assess the population trends and distribution of birds. Not only are bird numbers recorded, but so is the weather and number of participants. The type and number of birds found reflect the state of the envi- ronment. With this being the warmest December ever many birds, especially waterfowl, had not moved south. Less than usual land birds were found, but ducks and geese were in abundance. The two new birds added to the Kincardine CBC this year were the Tundra swan and the ring-necked duck. Several other waterfowl includ- ing the canvasback, shoveler, pin- tail and snow goose made their second -ever appearance. Six snowy owls were more easily spot- ted because of the lack of snow. The 3,500 ring -billed gulls found shattered the old record of 266. The ring -billed is our most common gull in summer, but they have tra- ditionally all migrated before the count period. The Canada goose was the most abundant species this year with over 5,000 being counted. Participants had ideal weather for driving, and all roads were open and snow free. Spirits were antici- pating good things. As it turns out the lack of snow meant birds were widely dispersed and not concen- trated around feeders. This made them harder to find. Over its 30 year history Kincar- dine has amassed a total of 121 species, but never more than 60 on one count until this year. The 62 species found is a new record high and was mainly due to the water- fowl. This year Kincardine's results are a reflection of the bigger pic- ture. Greater numbers of waterfowl were recorded across the province. Beyond Christmas counts it was an exciting year to be birding in Bruce County. On average one new bird a year has been added to the alltime list. This year four birds never recorded before were added. The first was a Mississippi kite, seen back in May. It is a small bird of prey that feeds on dragonflies. It was seen for two days only at the Lindsay Tract just north of Fern- dale. The Mississippi kite, as its name implies, is a bird of the southeastern United States. A Eurasian dotterel, the first seen in Eastern North America, brought a flash of birders to Oli- phant. The only previous dotterel records in North America are from parts of Alaska that are close to Siberia. Despite an extensive search of the Oliphant area the bird was never seen a second time. Another rare bird discovered in Oliphant was a Nelson's sparrow This bird nests on Hudson Bay and winters on the east coast, but has never been seen migrating here because of its secretive nature. The most recent addition to the Grey Bruce Bird List is a swallow that until recently only nested in very restricted caves of Mexico. In the 1970s cave swallows started nesting in man-made structures such as culverts and silos and have now expanded all over Texas. In fall when most birds migrate south cave swallows sim- ply disperse, often heading east. Many fly all the way to the East Coast, but some bump into the Great Lakes and get stalled out. Thier arrival is usually heralded by a strong storm system moving up from the southwest. This year the big wind arrived on Nov. 12 and, sure enough, several sight- ings were recorded near the Great Lakes. Three cave swallows were spotted right here in Kincardine and one in Thornbury. The Cave swallows continued to be seen for a few weeks in some locations. As I sit and write this summary there are a couple birds in my backyard that are unusual in win- ter and were not seen count day. The hermit thrush, a small cousin of the robin, is all fluffed up and sheltering in a thick bush. The song sparrow is a common back- yard nester in summer, but rare to find once the snow comes. I only see it on its forays to the feeder. The cold last night almost froze the lagoons and with Arctic air expected the ducks will surely have to move farther south for the rest of winter. Now that 2015 is history my yearly birding list is a blank slate and I can't wait to get out and see what the New Year brings. Happy Birding to you all. Wednesday, January 6, 2016 • Lucknow Sentinel 7 James Turland/Submitted The 2015 Christmas Bird Count saw 62 species spotted and almost 17,000 birds in total. Christmas Bird Count 2015 Snow Goose - 6, Cackling Goose - 1, Canada Goose - 5,285, Tundra Swan - 26, Gadwall - 3, American Black Duck - 75, Mallard -1,630, Northern Shoveler - 4, Northern Pintail - 2, Canvasback - 43, Ring- necked Duck - 2, Greater Scaup - 44, Lesser Scaup - 28, White - winged Scoter - 3, Black Scoter - 4, Long-tailed Duck - 2, Bufflehead -109, Common Goldeneye - 97, Hooded Merganser -1, Common Merganser - 38, Red -breasted Mer- ganser - 6, Wild Turkey - 92, Horned Grebe - 3, Double -crested Cormo- rant - 3, Golden Eagle -1, North- ern Harrier -10, Sharp -shinned Hawk - 2, Bald Eagle - 7, Red-tailed Hawk -15, Rough -legged Hawk -10, American Kestrel -1, Her- ring Gull -1,294, Glaucous Gull -1, Great Black -backed Gull -12, Rock Pigeon -158, Mourning Dove - 35, Screech Owl -1, Snowy Owl - 6, Belted Kingfisher -1, Red -bellied Woodpecker - 8, Downy Wood- pecker -18, Hairy Woodpecker - 2, Northern Shrike -1, Blue Jay - 21, American Crow - 361, Common Raven - 4, Black -capped Chick- adee - 421, Red -breasted Nut- hatch -14, White -breasted Nut- hatch - 22, Brown Creeper -1, Golden -crowned Kinglet - 3, Ameri- can Robin - 3, European Starling - 742, Snow Bunting -1,738, Ameri- can Tree Sparrow - 39, Dark -eyed Junco -14, Northern Cardinal - 20, House Finch - 7, American Gold- finch - 273, House Sparrow - 280. The total number of spe- cies recorded was 62, with 16,950 birds in total. Barriers to youth reported at National Farmers Union convention At the recent National Farmers Union Convention held in London Ontario, the youth report on Criti- cal Issues for New Farmers high- lighted three issues that were barri- ers to new farmers. They had surveyed 1,326 farmers all across Canada. In Ontario the three major barriers were the high cost of land ownership, the lack of financing available to new farmers, and the low profitability of farming. The report painted a very differ- ent picture of who is farming than the traditional son takes over from father scenario. A total of 58% of the farmers responding were women, 68% did not grow up on a farm but came into farming as a career choice. This report, like other farmer sur- veys, did find the average age of farmers was 54 years old. "The interest and enthusiasm of the Youth Caucus and the in depth analysis of this report was energiz- ing," said Fran McQuail, a Lucknow area farmer who attended the convention. The report ended proposing a Cana- dian National New Farmer Coalition to advance food sovereignty and encour- age and support a new generation of farmers in Canada. The report was enthusiastically received by the convention delegates. Joan Brady of Dashwood, Johannes Poganatz of Dungannon area, and Matt Eagleson of Stephen Township were the other three del- egates from the Huron NFU local. For more information about the Huron NFU Meetings contact Johannes Poganatz, Co-chair at 519-529-7059.