Young birdwatchers, listening and looking through the boughs in Canatara Park on a rainy morning Saturday, found more than organizers had hoped.
Nearly 6,000 birds and 24 species were spied in the return of the annual Christmas Bird Count for six-to-12-year-olds through Lambton Wildlife’s Young Nats Club.
In it’s inaugural in 2018, about 1,260 birds and 21 species were logged, and just 186 birds and 16 species were detected in 2019, before the event took a two-year break amid the COVID-19 pandemic, said Anne Goulden, one of the organizers.
Saturday’s new record — 5,933 birds — included 5,000 redhead ducks, she noted.
“Many more birds than I expected,” she said.
Goldfinch, nuthatches, robins, sparrows, juncos and cardinals, along with Canada geese, woodpeckers and blue jays were among the other species recorded by about 18 youngsters, accompanied by adult family members and club guides, she said.
Sarnia’s Carrie McAffer was participating for the first time with her six-year-old grandson Linkon Dixon.
“We had a lovely flock of 75 Canada geese fly right over top of us and it was nice and low,” she said. “You could hear their wings. Really magnificent.”
Mid-search, Goulden had doubts about the amount of birds that would be found.
“You get more birds when there’s snow cover because they tend to congregate” if one finds something to eat, she said.
“When it’s like this, they have everywhere to drill.”
Diminished seed production after dryer conditions this spring has also made an impact, she said.
“I know in my garden, they’ve already cleaned everything off. Normally there’s lots.”
Similar Christmas bird counts for kids have been held in various regions after they first began in California in 2007, Goulden said, noting various counts for adults have been happening for more than 100 years between mid-December and the beginning of January to help keep track of bird populations..
“They’re all over,” she said about the counts.
“You name a bird place, they’re there.”
Participants, she said, were receiving cookies, hot chocolate, a make-it-yourself pine-cone bird feeder, and a pin of a red-breasted nuthatch made by artist and naturalist Sarah Rupert.
Pins with different birds each year are provided for the event courtesy of Rupert, Goulden said.
“We’re so happy to get kids outside and in with nature,” she said.
“The more you learn about nature, the more you care about it, the more you protect it.”