Oak Hammock Marsh held their Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC) Dec. 14, 2024. The CBC is an international holiday birding tradition in which birders track and count the number of birds they see within a 24-kilometre radius of a geographical area.
Paula Grieef, Resident Naturalist at the Harry J. Enns Wetland Discovery Centre (Oak Hammock Marsh), was the lead compiler for their CBC, and it was an outstanding day.
“We had quite the count,” said Grieef. “With the mild weather and less snow than usual, we had above average counts for species and number of birds.”
A Snowy owl on a pole was spotted by Chris Benson
Eleven teams covered Oak Hammock Marsh’s 24-kilometre radius and saw more birds than ever before.
“We had a huge variety of birds this year. There were lots of birds who don’t normally spend the winter here that we were able to count.”
One notable species spotted was the Meadowlark.
“There were so many birds here who stayed later than they normally do.”
Grieef further explained that several patches of grass were still visible, which made it easier for the birds to find seeds on the ground. She noted that in her 25 years of participating in the CBC, she has never experienced a count quite like this.
On average, Oak Hammock Marsh typically sees approximately 29 bird species and about 2900 birds in total.
“This year we counted 35 different species and about 4000 birds.”
Two highlights for the counters were spotting a big flock of Snow Buntings and another massive flock of Snowy Owls.
Grieef thanks all 30 of her volunteers who spent the day collecting data for the CBC and everyone who participated as a feeder watcher.
