Martha and I had an excellent time participating in the Fort Saskatchewan CBC on December 14th. Conditions were fair to good - overcast, moderate wind, temps between -15 C and -12 C. We spent a good portion of the day snowshoeing through deep snow in the river valley.
In Turner Park, a mob of
Black-billed Magpies drew our attention to a lovely weasel eating the face off of a dead Varying Hare.
A few small open stretches of water on the North Saskatchewan River hosted
Common Goldeneye. Otherwise waterfowl weren't to be found. Winter finches were also absent despite an abundance of forest food crops, i.e., White Spruce cones, Mountain-ash fruit and White Birch seed.
As usual,
Bohemian Waxwing was the most abundant species (photos from Turner Park during count week).
A total of 29 species were seen. A
Northern Flicker was also seen during the count week. Here's the final tally.
| Common Goldeneye | 61 | | Common Raven | 159 |
| Gray Partridge | 13 | | Black-capped Chickadee | 472 |
| Bald Eagle | 3 | | Boreal Chickadee | 3 |
| Northern Goshawk | 1 | | Red-breasted Nuthatch | 11 |
| Merlin | 1 | | White-breasted Nuthatch | 16 |
| Gyrfalcon | 1 | | Brown Creeper | 1 |
| Rock Pigeon | 449 | | American Robin | 12 |
| Great Horned Owl | 2 | | European Starling | 129 |
| Snowy Owl | 1 | | Bohemian Waxwing | 2,198 |
| Downy Woodpecker | 28 | | Dark-eyed Junco | 27 |
| Hairy Woodpecker | 7 | | Snow Bunting | 400 |
| Pileated Woodpecker | 3 | | House Finch | 27 |
| Northern Shrike | 3 | | American Goldfinch | 4 |
| Blue Jay | 57 | | House Sparrow | 455 |
| Black-billed Magpie | 447 | | | |
Many thanks to Art Hughes for coordinating/compiling the count and to Deb Wegner for hosting the compilation gathering and meal.
