The Rainy River Valley Field Naturalists had a fine turnout of amateur ornithologists for their annual Christmas bird count back on Dec. 14, although the birds were somewhat less keen.
Fourteen people, including five children, carefully combed a 24-km diameter circle encompassing the area between Frog Creek Road and Highway 611 North to beyond Wasaw Road and south to the river.
But census co-ordinator Ilka Milne said the results were a little disappointing.
“I think the mild weather might have had something to do with it,” said Milne. “The birds probably stayed deeper in the bush instead of coming out to bird feeders.”
Of more concern to Milne was the number of species spotted. In all, only 24 different types (not including unidentified ducks) were catalogued this time—and no raptors at all except for eagles.
“Rough-legged and red-tailed hawks, northern hawk owls, barred owls, great-horned owls, boreal owls, and great gray owls are occasionally seen on the Christmas bird count here,” Milne noted.
“This was the least diverse count ever. However, it may have been partly due to having relatively inexperienced birders this time,” she acknowledged.
Also noticeably absent were ruffed grouse, which supposedly are bouncing back from one of their periodic downswings. But none were spotted this year.
Another no-show was the northern shrike.
“We usually find one every year and we felt bad none turned up on count day, but the next morning, Henry Miller [a long-time bird count participant] saw one at his bird feeder,” Milne said.
“I imagine it gave the sparrows quite a scare,” she joked.
Northern shrikes are robin-sized birds of prey that feed on small animals and birds. Since they lack the powerful talons of hawks, shrikes are notorious for impaling their victims on thorns in order to tear the flesh off them.
The black-capped chickadee was the most common bird found this time around (272), followed by the European starling (208), pine grosbeak (195), evening grosbeak (123), common raven (122), common redpoll (107), American crow (106), and house sparrow (71).
At the other end of the spectrum, just one northern flicker was counted, along with two pileated woodpeckers, three pine siskins, seven downy woodpeckers, eight red-breasted nuthatches, eight sharp-tailed grouse, and 10 white-breasted nuthatches.
Rounding out this year’s count were:
•Common goldeneye—46
•Common merganser—14
•Ducks (unidentified)—30
•Bald eagle—27
•Rock dove—43
•Hairy woodpecker—23
•Gray jay—34
•Blue jay—34
•Black-billed magpie—37
•Snow bunting—30
The RRVFN, with a current membership of 35, is always looking for new people to join.
They meet on the first Wednesday of the month from September to April at either the Northwestern Health Unit’s office on Scott Street here or the Barwick Hall.
The group also publishes a newsletter four times a year.
The naturalists also stage other special events. For instance, an ice-fishing outing on Lake of the Woods is planned for Jan. 24, and other activities are under consideration.
For more information, contact RRVFN president Bill Morgenstern (274-7314) or newsletter editor Henry Van Ael (274-2988).
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
