The 22nd Lanark Highlands Christmas Bird Count was held on Monday, December 30th in very un-Christmassy-like weather. Skies were partly cloudy in the morning with light winds from the south and temperatures around plus 5 deg C. The sky clouded over around noon, rain began to fall along with the temperature, and the southerly winds were gusting up to 34 km/hr. While running water on the larger rivers remained open, still water was generally frozen on the lakes, though with some open stretches on the larger ones. Snow cover in the southern half of the circle was about 5 cm deep and quickly melting, but increased to 15 cm further north. The Count is centered on Watsons Corners in Lanark County and includes the village of Lanark and the hamlets of McDonalds Corners, Hopetown and Middleville. There were 28 field observers and 15 feeder watchers. The 51 species (10-yr avg of 37) reported is a new high for this Count, beating the 48 tallied in 2021. This record was greatly helped along by the addition of 4 new species: Wood Duck (1), Great Horned Owl (1), Hermit Thrush (1), and Horned Lark (5). Two additional species were recorded during the count week: Common Merganser (3) and Ring-billed Gull (1). Factoring in the recent lumping of Common Redpoll and Hoary Redpoll, the grand total for the Count now stands at 83. Of these, 18 species have been reported in each year of the Count. On the other hand, the 3049 individual birds recorded this year was down somewhat from the 10-yr avg of 3465. Other highlights include new species highs for Trumpeter Swan (23), Red-bellied Woodpecker (2), and Common Raven (95). Three other species matched their previous high numbers: Great Blue Heron (1), Merlin (1), and Lapland Longspur (2). House Sparrows, which were present in numbers annually in the first 14 years of the count, were again missing this year marking the third count in a row that has happened. Not a great year for winter finches: - Pine Grosbeak - zero compared to the 10–yr avg of 11 - Purple Finch - zero compared to the 10-yr avg of 3 - Red Crossbill - 2 matching the 10-yr avg - White-winged Crossbill - zero (last recorded in 2021 and a 10-yr avg of 3) - Pine Siskin - 6 down from the 176 counted last year (10-yr avg of 28) - Redpoll - zero reported again for the third count in a row compared to the 10-yr avg of 90 - Evening Grosbeak - 10 compared to the 10-yr avg of 126 Thanks to all the volunteers who participated, and a special thank you to Mary Vandenhoff for again hosting a great compilation social. Hope to see you all next year on December 30th. Rémy Poulin