Christmas Bird Counts
Bird counts for each year and various locations are posted below.
Blue Jay - Photo: Rob Wilson
The YFBTA is working hard to make the Yellowhead Region one of the best birding spots in the province and country. People in the communities of Saltcoats, Churchbridge, Yorkton, Hazel Cliff and Esterhazy count how many different birds they see from December 14 to January 5. The objective of the Christmas Bird Count is to monitor the status and distributions of bird populations in the Western Hemisphere. The information collected from the Christmas Bird Count is available to be used by scientists and amateur enthusiasts as they plot region-specific and continental trends. The YFBTA encourages anyone who would like to join this to do so.
ANNUAL BIRD COUNT RECORDS A DECREASE IN BIRD NUMBERS THIS WINTER (2005)
Walter Farquharson
This year again members of the Yellowhead Flyway Birding Trail Association participated in Nature Saskatchewan's annual Christmas Bird Count. On January 4, seven members drove and walked many kilometers within the Town of Saltcoats and in an area seven miles out from the Town in each direction.Other members and friends participated through keeping track of the birds showing up in their yards and at their feeders.
Probably due to the mild winter weather, fewer birds were counted than last year. We did count 7 ruffed grouse, 15 sharp-tailed grouse, 1 bald eagle (actually seen and noted December 25) 10 rock pigeons, 2 great horned owls, 12 downy woodpeckers and 9 hairy woodpeckers. Eight blue jays were spotted, 49 black-billed magpies, 78 common ravens, 66 black-capped chickadees, 4 white-breasted nuthatches. On January 2 a robin was seen at several feeders in town and 1 dark-eyed junco was identified. Over 300 snow buntings were seen and these were in different flocks different directions from Saltcoats. Eight purple finches were noted and a pine siskin. Members tallied 122 house sparrows. Members have also seen a boreal chickadee and a red-breasted nuthatch but these were sightings outside the specified dates.
In addition to birds there were sightings of 2 red foxes, 3 snowshoe hares, many signs of badger diggings, 5 striped skunks, 6 whitetailed deer, 1 long-tailed weasel, 5 red squirrels, places where porcupine had stripped bark from trees very recently..
These counts are always an adventure. Birders and nature enthusiasts are always eager to compare notes and challenge possible sightings of rarer species - or unusual feathered visitors. The records help scientists track species declines and increases and measures the effect of ever changing habitats.
Readers are invited to share their sightings and their questions. Contact Rob Wilson at (306) 744 8140 or Jim Jowsey at (306) 744 2246.
Published in Saltcoats Grade 5/6 Gazette - January 12 / 2006
Christmas Bird Counts in December 2006
Saltcoats, Esterhazy, Yorkton, and Good Spirit Lake
Annual Christmas bird count held in Yorkton (2007) - By Kathy Morrell
Reprinted from Yorkton This Week - Wednesday, January 2, 2008
YFBTA BIRD COUNT BUZZINGS 2007 by Rob Wilson
Churchbridge - Saltcoats - Esterhazy
Christmas Bird Count (2009) conducted in the Yellowhead Flyway Birding Trail region
