CAUTION -- EXTERNAL E-MAIL - Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender. The 38th Petroglyphs Christmas Bird Count was held on Tuesday, Jan 2, 2024. It was an overcast day with slightly windy conditions (picking up as the day progressed) with temperatures hovering around zero. Unlike most years, there was virtually no snow on the ground. Lakes, such as Stoney and Jacks, were mostly open this year resulting in some waterbirds (unusual for this count), including 3 species new to the count! Participants: 30 Total species: 38 (quite a bit higher than the 10-year average of 33 but below the record of 41) Total individuals: 2607 (10-year average is 2443) Overall it was fairly quiet day as there was little natural food and we had to work hard to detect the birds (lots of pishing, squeaking and owls calls to draw the birds in). Typical overwintering species were at about the 10-year average numbers. This included species such as Ruffed Grouse, Blue Jay, Common Raven, Black-capped Chickadee, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Red-breasted Nuthatch and Brown Creeper. There were quite a few notable species and numbers as follows: MALLARD: 27 (2nd time on the count) WHITE-WINGED SCOTER: 1 (new for the count - on Stoney Lake) COMMON MERGANSER: 108 (7th time on the count - on both Stoney and Jacks lake) RED-BREASTED MERGANSER: 1 (new for the count - on Stoney Lake) HERRING GULL: 7 (near the count high of 8) GREAT BLUE HERON: 1 (new for the count - although it had been recorded in count week previously) GOLDEN EAGLE: 2 (near the count high of 3) SHARP-SHINNED HAWK: 2 (7th time on the count; new count high) AMERICAN CROW: 15 (near the count high of 20) BOHEMIAN WAXWING: 79 Low Counts: DOWNY WOODPECKER: 14 (much lower than the 10-year average of 34) HAIRY WOODPECKER: 29 (lower than the 10-year average of 48) PILEATED WOODPECKER: 7 (much lower than the 10-year average of 21) WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH: 100 (lower than the 10-year average of 134) Winter Finches: PURPLE FINCH: 39 COMMON REDPOLL: 42 RED CROSSBILL: 9 PINE SISKIN: 196 AMERICAN GOLDFINCH: 238 Misses: BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER: once an annually detected species this species has only been recorded on 4 counts since 2009 CANADA JAY: similar to the above species, this was once an annual species but has only been recorded 4 times since 2009. Count Week only birds included: TRUMPETER SWAN (new), WINTER WREN and AMERICAN ROBIN The count circle (including the 6 areas) can be viewed at the following link: https://maps.google.ca/maps/ms?msid=217208700112631695001.0004d125bfd0d20adc5de&msa=0&ll=44.660839,-77.950058&spn=0.2525,0.676346 Thanks to all participants! Colin Jones Count Compiler