On December 27th the West Elgin Nature Club held its 74th annual CBC. The day was very gray with steady snow/sleet showers all morning and conditions only improved slightly in the afternoon. The mild conditions leading up to the count ensured all of the ponds, lagoons, creeks and the lake were ice free. 45 observers persevered through the less than ideal conditions to cover their assigned areas. When the results were tallied the group had counted a record 97 species (previous count day high was 94 in 2020) which included two new species for the count, bringing the total to 158. A lone Blue-gray Gnatcatcher was found in a small mixed flock in a deep gully near Lake Erie. The north area of the count circle produced a pair of Common Ravens that were seen and heard flying over some fields. There were no new high counts and no obvious misses on the count day. To cap off this record setting count, a Horned Grebe and a Gray Catbird were observed on the last day of the count week, bringing the final tally to 99 species (previous high of 97 in 2020).. Thanks to all who participated and I am looking forward to 2022 when we can have a non socially distanced count and see if we can hit the century mark! Chris Leys CBC Compiler