Organizers of the 2023 Salt Spring Island Christmas Bird Count are delighted with results coming from a counting day that saw unseasonably mild weather and many record or near-record species counts.
And whether your tastes run toward the sooty or spotted, the yellow-rumped or the ring-necked, there were a few surprising sightings on Dec. 17, according to coordinator Tim Marchant.
This year’s robust total tallied 15,673 birds of 100 species across the zones that make up the combined Salt Spring and Prevost Island count, Marchant said, and with record numbers of surf scoters, great blue herons, kingfishers, flickers, pileated woodpeckers and golden-crowned sparrows during the 35th year of the event.
Marchant said despite 10 to 15 per cent fewer counters out this year compared to the last two — and a lower number of total counting hours — there were higher counts, including near-record numbers of ring-necked ducks, cormorants and towhees.
“And a good showing by mergansers, California quail, buffleheads and chickadees,” said Marchant, who said the birds-counted-per-counter figure varies considerably each year, from as few as 65 to as many as 155 birds spotted by each person on average.
“Maybe the good weather during the fall and during count week allowed more birds to stay a bit further north this year?” said Marchant. “Or maybe the residents were more visible/accessible this year — not hiding deep in the branches due to cold?”
Marchant said intriguing numbers came from counts of American robins and pine siskins — 7,500 fewer this year than during a record count year in 2020, despite generally high count numbers across other species.
“Which is why I look to the friendlier weather as a possible cause, rather than cyclical food sources or year-to-year counting differences,” said Marchant. “And of course it’s usually a combination of factors.”
As with every year, the groups had a few unexpected sightings — birds not seen for a few years — including the sooty grouse, spotted sandpiper, pine grosbeak, yellow-rumped warbler and Lincoln’s sparrow.
The “signature sighting” of this year’s count was a pair of Indian pea fowl, Marchant said.
“Debate rages whether they ‘count’ as wild or domestic,” he said. “I am told that the population has to be established for quite some time in order to be officially counted by Audubon, but there is no doubt that they were seen — and so we are counting them, much as the longer-established wild turkeys on Saturna are counted.”
Next year’s count — which will be Salt Spring’s 36th, and the Audubon Society’s 125th — will be held Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. For more information, visit naturesaltspring.org and birdcount.org.