London CBC4Kids 2016

Today was the Christmas Bird Count for Kids here in London. I volunteered as a group leader, and by 9:30 am, after the introduction, we broke up into our groups and went to our respectable areas along Springbank Park and Greenway Park.

As soon as we arrived we looked up in time to see a Common Loon flyover. Loons at this time of year in Middlesex is quite a good sighting. Ring-billed Gulls, Chickadees, and Goldfinches flew over here as well.

A little bit down the path we found the highlight of the entire bird count....a juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker! This bird is fairly rare at any time of year in the county, so this bird is very exciting. 2016 seems to be a good year for RHWO in Middlesex, as there was a presumed breeding pair in the Strathroy area. Maybe this bird is one of the fledglings!

This isn't a B&W filter...the lighting sucked!

I have labeled the area of the observation for anyone who wants to try to find the bird.

red x marks the spot

highlighted area is the spot of the RHWO

I saw it storing food of some kind, so maybe it will try to overwinter.

Other birds seen along the route included Cardinals, Chickadees, Nuthatches, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Kinglets, Common Goldeneye, Canada Geese, and Juncos.

We met back an hour and half later to share our sightings. A bird that rivaled the RHWO was Sandhill Crane....28 of them flew over Greenway Park! Unlike some friends in counties such as Chatham-Kent or Lambton, who see dozens more of these birds, here in Middlesex it is hard enough to come about one or two cranes, let alone 28....flying over downtown!

Together we had a total of over 600 individuals, down from 1000+ the last two years, and 32 species, which is a new record on this count.

In a couple weeks I'll be down in Rondeau doing the CBC there. Hopefully I can get in some birding before then!