*75th Pickering CBC – December 30, 2023* We held our 75th Christmas Bird Count for Pickering on Saturday December 30, 2023. The count was sponsored by Pickering Naturalists. A total of 80 species were tallied, well above our ten-year average. The highest count of the past decade was 83 species on the 2020 CBC. This year, there were 39 field observers and 9 watchers at 8 feeders, rather high but substantially less than our record of 51 observers in 2018. These participants tallied 25,187 individual birds, somewhat fewer than last year. Our 20 teams were birding hard all day, and put in 101 hours of highly focused bird watching effort (including 108 km of walking in 101 hours, and 723 km of driving in 46 hours). Conditions on the day were mild. The ground was mostly bare with occasional snow-covered areas under dense cover. Temperatures ranged from -0.9 degrees C at daybreak to a high of -0.5 at noon, then fell slightly to a low of -1.5 at dusk. Skies were cloudy all day. Unsheltered areas experienced moderately strong winds from the Northwest (to WNW or NNW), from 5 to 9 at times but mostly from 15 to 18 km/hour, with gusts briefly to 28. Lakeshore areas had somewhat stronger winds. Windchill was modest, between -3 and -7. Creeks and ponds were open. From the beginning of the count in 1949, a total of 154 species had been recorded, up to last year’s CBC. A remarkable two species were added this year – Barrow’s Goldeneye and Red-necked Grebe. Barrow’s Goldeneye was previously seen during count week only (in 2022) and R.N. Grebe had never been seen at all. This year, we had our highest-ever counts for Cackling Goose – 30 (previous high was 8 in 2020), Red-bellied Woodpecker – 35 (previous high was 29 last year), Common Raven – 23 (previous high was 22 in 2019), Hermit Thrush – 5 (previous high was 3 in 1989) and Eastern Bluebird – 17 (previous high was 13 in 2006 and 2010). Of these, both the woodpecker and the corvid have been on steady upward trajectories for at least 15 years. Counts that matched our previous maximum were made for Merlin – 3 (seen in 2020) and Winter Wren – 5 (seen in 1974). Second-highest-ever counts were made for Gadwall – 100 (highest was 118 in 2018), Northern Shoveler (highest was 13 in 2001), Common Goldeneye – 463 (highest was 730 in 1966), Northern Flicker – 6 (highest was 13 in 1970), Carolina Wren – 4 (highest was 6 in 2021) and White-throated Sparrow – 44 (highest was 54 in 1980). Yet another statistic for us OCD CBCers, third-highest-ever counts were made for Trumpeter Swan – 35 (highest was 110 last year), Red-breasted Nuthatch – 32 (highest was 69 in 2020), and Northern Cardinal – 197 (highest was 264 in 2020). We also had our third-highest count for American Robin – 815 (highest was 1500 in 2016). Over half of the robins for this year’s CBC (466) were seen at dusk, apparently flying into the same roost site as on last year’s count. Relatively high counts also included Pileated Woodpecker – 4 (highest since 1994) and House Sparrow – 501 (highest since 2006). Other noteworthy species included Eastern Screech-Owl – 2 (the first since 2002 – both calling/responding to calls during the day) and Ruffed Grouse – 1 (the first since 2013, yet another victim of our rapidly-urbanizing watershed). A Gray Catbird was only our third-ever (previously seen in 1979 and 2020) and a Fox Sparrow was our 4th-ever (previously seen in 2000, 2012 and 2020). Species seen in low numbers included Greater Scaup – 73 and Herring Gull – 65, both well below average. Our most notable misses were Glaucous Gull (seen on 13 of the last 16 counts), Barred Owl (seen on 8 of the 11 last counts), American Kestrel (seen on 20 of the last 23 counts) and Snow Bunting (seen on 17 of the last 19 counts). Two species were seen during count week, but were not found on the CBC day itself – Canvasback and Glaucous Gull. The Pickering CBC was initiated by Dr. J. Murray Speirs on Jan. 2, 1949. The count area extends from the shores of Lake Ontario north to the Oak Ridges moraine. It is centred at latitude 43.902 degrees north, and longitude 79.097 degrees west. The CBC area incorporates the neighbouring community of Ajax, as well as portions of Lynde Shores Conservation Area, including part of Cranberry Marsh, in Durham Region. Please visit our website at www.pickeringnaturalists.org for more information on the club. A huge thank you to all of our field counters and feeder watchers. We also appreciate the major contributions of Dan Shire and Karen McKillop, who assembled the final tallies and did data entry, and those of Carolyn King, who recruited and maintained contact with observers, checked out long-term averages and other species information, and stick-handled our CBC spreadsheet across the blue line and into the slot. Any miscalculations, omissions or commissions of gross incompetence (and tardiness) may be blamed entirely on the undersigned. Sorry for the late posting, Steve LaForest, Pickering Naturalists