The Salmon Arm annual Christmas Bird Count was held on Sunday, Dec. 18.
There were 24 participants in six parties starting at 7:30 a.m. and finishing by 3:30 p.m.
The wind from the northwest was light around the lake, but up to 10 kilometres an hour higher up. There was a skiff of snow in the morning, especially at the higher elevations, but not enough to harm visibility.
The number of species seen was 70, which is lower than usual. The cold spell in the previous week had many species, such as the gulls, head south. The total number of birds seen was 7,069, also a bit lower than usual. In addition, there were four more species seen during count week, bringing our totals up to 74.
There were a couple of notable sightings.
A yellow-billed loon was seen at Canoe near the boat launch, feeding and swimming with a western grebe.
This is the first reported yellow-billed loon since the early ’90s.
During count week a pair of canvasbacks were seen at the wharf in Canoe. This is the first ever report of this species on our Christmas bird counts.
Canada geese were the most commonly seen bird during the count with 1,104 individuals. This was followed by European starlings with 667 and mallards with 536.
There were several species with all time record highs for the count: 20 ring-necked ducks, 77 bald eagles, 288 Eurasian collared- doves, and 355 red-winged blackbirds.
Other species with good counts were six northern shrikes and six American dippers, not record highs but still notable.
– contributed by naturalist Ted Hillary
