Report by:Nancy & Ray Kendel, Pictures by: Martha Abelson

January 3, 2004, the date of the fourth annual Cortes Island Christmas Bird Count, dawned crisp, clear and cold. With strong outflow winds, the artic front had covered the island in snow, and had frozen most of the freshwater lakes and ponds. It seemed that counting birds under these conditions would be a challenge for the 39 enthusiastic participants.

Meeting at 9 a.m. in the Mansonís Hall parking lot 24 birders (including two young birding enthusiasts - Delphin Moore and Fiona Simons) divided up into four groups to cover as much of the island as possible in daylight hours. They scanned seascapes and prowled back roads from Coulter Bay to Smelt Bay, binoculars, scopes, and bird books in hand. Two groups focused on the South end of the island; a third group covered the Squirrel Cove area, Blue Jay Lake and Linnaea Farm; and the fourth toured Gunflint Lake, the Gorge Harbour and the Whaletown area. Fifteen islanders also participated in the count by observing birds in their backyards. These counts were phoned in at the end of the day.

As it turned out, the cold weather did make it more difficult to count the birds that frequent freshwater, many of which had apparently left the area when the ponds froze over. As the boat counts did not take place there were also fewer of the offshore species encountered. However, the cold weather made the counting of some of the woodland species easier as it seemed they were more concentrated in the lower, sunnier, sheltered locations. (Maybe the birders were concentrated there too!) Only two birds were found at Blue Jay Lake this year - a stark contrast to last year. Strong thermals made it easier to spot red-tailed hawks as they soared high over the island.

Altogether, observers counted 72 species of birds. This is one species more than 2001, and one species less than 2002. Eight new species ñ the California gull, eared grebe, surfbird, merlin, northern pigmy owl, dipper, hermit thrush and Huttonís vireo - were spotted during this yearís count. The group who trekked in through knee-deep snow to see the two birds at Blue Jay Lake was rewarded with a sighting of the American dipper and took several good photos of it. Frustratingly elusive, was a northern shrike spotted prior to the count in the vicinity of Mary Point, and a juvenile white-fronted goose residing near the Whaletown Store.

The day ended with the participants tallying numbers, and enjoying food and refreshments while discussing the dayís success. Clearly the weather had not frozen everyoneís enthusiasm (although a few other parts may have been)! Everyone had a lot of fun, and the less experienced participants learned exciting new tricks of bird identification from the “experts”. Everyone enjoyed themselves so much that a spring migration bird watching day was discussed to expand our birding skills. If you are interested in participating contact us at 935-8508.