Report by:Nancy & Ray Kendel,
Pictures by: Martha Abelson
and Dianne Bersea

On the frosty, sunny morning of January 2nd, 2005 thirty-three participants began the Fifth Annual Cortes Island Christmas Bird Count. This year the Cortes Island Museum joined Bird Studies Canada in sponsoring the event.

Twenty birders set out at 9 AM, splitting into five groups to cover as much of the island as possible. They scanned seascapes and prowled back roads from Plunger Pass 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; the fourth toured Gunflint Lake, the Gorge Harbour and the Whaletown area, while the fifth group enjoyed a boat ride in the Gorge and a trip to Swamp’s Edge. At mid-day the entire group gathered at the Pioneer Room to exchange information and strategize the afternoon’s activity over a hot lunch catered by Suzanne. There was no lingering over coffee though, as the eager participants wanted to get the most of the time left in the afternoon! At the end of the day the group gathered at the Museum to share refreshments and tally the day’s sightings. The 13 other participants were keeping a close eye on their bird feeders and their own backyards, and they called in their day’s observations to be included in the count.

For the entire 24-hour period observers sighted 68 species of birds! This is slightly less than the last few years ­ which numbered 71 to 73 different species. Some of the species missed this year were the blue grouse, trumpeter swan, sharp-shinned hawk, Virginia Rail, snipe, Bewick’s wren and house finch. These species are probably still around and missing them was most likely just the case of not being in the right place at the right time. The only new species observed were 3 rock pigeons (formerly rock dove or common pigeon) at Squirrel Cove. The count information collected in the Cortes Island Christmas Bird Count is available at www.cortesisland.com and is also registered along with all count results from 1900 to the present on the Audubon's website: www.audubon.org/bird/cbc.

Apart from its attraction as a fun social event, the Christmas Bird Count reveals valuable scientific data that affect the conservation of our birds. In 2004 Bird Studies Canada, the National Audubon Society, Canadian Wildlife Service and the Boreal Species Initiative analyzed the information collected by Christmas Bird Count participants over the last few decades. For the first time, good estimates of population trends for species including Rusty Blackbird (5.2% annual decline, a total decline of 86% over 39 years, a loss of nearly 13 million Rusty Blackbirds since 1965/66), Hermit Thrush (an increase of 2.2% a year), Merlin (annual increase of 3.3%), Northern Shrike (a decline of 1.8% a year), and Harris’s Sparrow (decline of 1.8% a year). These important results will be used to prioritize Canada’s bird conservation activities. The Rusty Blackbird is now being assessed by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada and may join other birds on Canada’s Species at Risk list. The information provided has also helped ornithologists better understand the magnitude of the effects of West Nile virus on regional bird populations.

Watch the Flyers or the Cortes Island web page for information on the upcoming Spring Migration Birding Event planned for late April!