THE 99TH CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNTS: by J. Dan McAskiIl & Ruth Richmaner

This was the 99th consecutive year that bird counters took to the field across North America to participate in the Audubon Christmas Bird Counts. It was the 28th consecutive year that this event was conducted on Prince Edward island. It has become a yearly tradition that allows those who choose it to spend time with feathered friends and to contribute to the monitoring of North American winter bird populations.

This year, 61 participants went to the field and 27 families watched their feeders. The Hillsborough contingent brought in an impressive 50 species on the count day. The Montague and P.E.l. National Park also had good days with 48 and 38 species respectively. An additional species was recorded in the Hillsborough Count with the sighting of a Brown-headed Cowbird in the three day count period (designated CP in the table) on either side of the count day and an additional 4 species in the Montague Count area. In total, the three counts recorded 67 species and a total of 22654 compared to the 71 species and 25616 birds last year (see issue 147).

The reports for each area are provided below.

Observations Number in Count Area National Park Hillsborough Montague Total Dec. 19 Dec.27 Jan. 2

Cormorant spp 3 3 Great Blue Heron 1 1 Canada Geese 154 875 487 1516 Mallard 57 2 59 Black Duck 410 2218 81 2709 Gadwell 22 22 Green-winged Teal 2 3 5 Ducks UiD 4 4 Greater Scaup 30 30 Scaup spp. 51 51‘ Common Goldeneye 313 436 159 908 Oldsquaw 25 4 3 32 Common Merganser 26 187 297 510 Red—breasted Merganser 35 3 38 Sharp-shinned Hawk 2 1 3 Red-tailed Hawk 1 1 Rough-legged Hawk 2 1 3 Bald Eagle 3 6 20 29 Northern Harrier 1 1 Osprey 1 1 Peregrine Falcon 1 1 American Kestrel 1 1 Hawk spp 1 1 Ruffed Grouse 7 10 17 Ring-necked Pheasant 2 1 1 4 Gray Partridge 21 5 26 Glaucous Gull 1 1 Iceland Gull 1 14 11 26 Great Black-backed Gull 58 105 38 201 Herring Gull 255 287 469 1011 Ring-billed Gull 1 4 10 15 Gull spp. 9 3 12 Hudsonian Godwit 1 1 Rock Dove 90 257 243 590