The 20th Holiday Beach CBC took place yesterday w/ 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. Temperatures ranged from 0-2C and skies were cloudy all day but luckily we didn’t get any rain (the days before and after the Count have been miserable!). There was a light east wind throughout the day. No snow cover was present on the day of the Count. Colder 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. Tundra Swans (4,188), Canada Geese (10,548), and Mallards (8,206) were present in particularly impressive numbers. Highlights of the day included 2 Cackling Geese, 1 Long-tailed Duck, 1 Green-winged Teal (difficult on this Count), 1 Turkey Vulture (very few 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. 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