by Al Sinclair

The annual Christmas Bird Count is a holiday tradition for birders in North America where this year nearly 2000 counts are scheduled and 50,000 people will participate. In Gravenhurst and Bracebridge we are celebrating our 25^th consecutive year of Christmas Bird Counts. After digging deep in the bird count archives in the Bowles’ basement we uncovered a yellowed sheet with the original hand-written results of the first count. It was held on December 21, 1980, a cold day, -12 to –14C, lakes and rivers partly frozen, snow cover 1 to 16 inches, 19 observers counting 1139 birds of 29 species. Unusual species were, Northern Goshawk, Rusty Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Common Grackle, and Song Sparrow. There were no Mourning Doves and only 19 Rock Doves (Pigeons). Finch species found were Pine Grosbeak (15), Common Redpoll (120), American Goldfinch (3), and Evening Grosbeak (143). Following the count, the results were tallied in the side room of the Lucky Eleven restaurant in Gravenhurst. Below are the never before published names of the first count participants:

Many of these names can also be found on the list of founding members of the Muskoka Field Naturalists formed two years later. A few of these names can also be found on the list of this years participants who along with many others have kept the bird count going for a quarter century. Congratulations and Well Done!

And now this years results. The 25^th Gravenhurst-Bracebridge Christmas Bird Count was held on December 19, 2004 with 33 observers in 9 groups covering the 24 km diameter circle centred between the towns. It was a frigid day, -19 to –25C, with an extreme windchill warning in effect, and snow cover of 50cm. Birds were clustered at feeders with few seen in open country. In spite of the weather 2569 birds of 33 species were found, only slightly down from the previous 10 year averages of 2811 birds and 35 species.

There were no new species or count lows this year but there were three new count highs: Sharp-shinned Hawk (2), Black-capped Chickadee (983), and Wild Turkey (28). Most of the turkeys were in one large flock in Bracebridge on Taylor Rd east of Hwy 11 and a smaller group was near Muskoka Falls. 8 Cardinals, 4 in each town, tied the all time count high. There were no ducks and no gulls, the very cold weather being the most likely reason. Unusual birds found were a Belted Kingfisher beside the creek at the south end of John Street in Gravenhurst, 7 Bohemian Waxwings going to roost at 4:30 PM in the woods beside Gravenhurst Parkway, a Snowy Owl and a Great Gray Owl. The Snowy was hunting behind Leons in Bracebridge for a week before the count but on count day spent most of its time in a ditch out of the bitter cold wind. This was only the 2^nd Snowy recorded on the count (the first was in 1984). The Great Gray was on Golden Beach Road near Hwy 118 and was seen at number 1106 early on count day. Many Great Grays are being reported in southern Ontario this winter indicating a collapse in the rodent population up north. A White-throated Sparrow was found at a feeder in Gravenhurst. Finches in the area this year were Pine Grosbeak (24), Common Redpoll (269), American Goldfinch (50), and Evening Grosbeak (10).The three most abundant species this year were: Black-capped Chickadee (983), Common Redpoll (269), and European Starling (268). Rock Dove slipped to 5^th.

The potluck supper following the count was well organized by Heather Coupland and attended by about 30 (counters, family and MFN members). The results were tallied after supper and as usual there were two competing teams, Gravenhurst captained by Dan Burton, and Bracebridge captained by Al Sinclair. This year Gravenhurst won (again!) with 28 species, one more than Bracebridge’s 27. However, as the Bracebridge Captain pointed out, Gravenhurst solicited the services of a crack team from Huntsville just hours before the count started and that may have been the difference. Next year Bracebridge will be prepared for this tactic. Thanks to everyone for making it a great day.

CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE SPECIES LIST
CLICK HERE FOR A MAP OF THE CIRCLE
CLICK HERE FOR LAST 10 YRS DATA

GRAVENHURST TEAM

G1- Janice House, Moira Payne, Stewart Boyd, Heather Harris, Neil Nimmo

G2-Eleanor Key Wellman, Dan Burton, Sylvia Purdon, Jim Maguire

G3-Pauline & Jim Goodfellow, Cyril & Marion Fry, Margaret Beard

G4- Rosemarie Hinzmann, Ron Stager

G5-Brian Pfrimmer, Burke Korol

species seen = 28, individuals counted = 1357

BRACEBRIDGE TEAM

B6- Stephanie Lehman, Tom & Mary Smith, Peter McLaren

B7- Doug Smith, Linda Boon, Nick Bartok

B8- Heather Coupland, Lou & Joan Spence, Al Sinclair

B9- Bob Burton, Joan Paget, Sam & Earl Robinson

species seen = 27, individuals counted = 1210

WEATHER: partly sunny, -19/-25 C, SNOW COVER 50 cm (20"), WIND 10 km/hr

TOTAL PARTY HOURS: 64.5 hrs, 60 hrs. by car, 4 hrs. on foot

TOTAL PARTY KM: 842 km (526 mi.), 758 km (474 mi) by car, 5 km (3 mi.) on foot