Results of the January 1, 2024 Fish Creek Park Count.
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
The annual half-day bird count in Fish Creek Park was a lot of fun and a great success again this New Year’s Day. We had a high number of species, with high counts for several, and some new species for the count. It was another mild day, as it had been for pretty much the whole winter up to then.
Forty-three birders went out to eight sections of the park. We found a total of 42 species, up from the ten-year average of 35. There were two new species not recorded before (Cackling Goose and Greater Scaup), and record high counts for six others.
| Cackling Goose | 10 |
|---|---|
| Canada Goose | 2,321 |
| Trumpeter Swan | 3 |
| Tundra Swan | 4 |
| American Wigeon | 7 |
| Mallard | 771 |
| Northern Pintail | 1 |
| Green-winged Teal | 4 |
| Redhead | 2 |
| Greater Scaup | 1 |
| Bufflehead | 179 |
| Common Goldeneye | 920 |
| Barrow’s Goldeneye | 13 |
| Common Merganser | 27 |
| Ring-necked Pheasant | 2 |
| Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) | 17 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 3 |
| Bald Eagle | 12 |
| Great Horned Owl | 2 |
| Belted Kingfisher | 1 |
| Downy Woodpecker | 31 |
| Hairy Woodpecker | 11 |
| Pileated Woodpecker | 5 |
| Northern Flicker | 53 |
| Merlin | 4 |
| Northern Shrike | 1 |
| Blue Jay | 5 |
| Black-billed Magpie | 133 |
| American Crow | 2 |
| Common Raven | 86 |
| Black-capped Chickadee | 219 |
| Mountain Chickadee | 7 |
| Boreal Chickadee | 11 |
| White-breasted Nuthatch | 42 |
| Red-breasted Nuthatch | 33 |
| Townsend’s Solitaire | 2 |
| American Robin | 1 |
| Bohemian Waxwing | 277 |
| House Sparrow | 78 |
| Pine Grosbeak | 12 |
| House Finch | 20 |
| Dark-eyed Junco | 1 |
Our group covered the Hull’s Wood/Sikome Lake/Boat Launch areas. Matt Wallace took some great photos of our day.
This count is not an official Christmas Bird Count, but it has a pretty long history now, and it is an important tool to monitor the long-term population trends in the park. If you want to learn more about the count in all areas of the park, come to Birds & Beers this Thursday, February 8, where the Count Organizer Jim Washbrook will present the results and answer questions.
Results of the Calgary and Priddis Christmas Bird Counts will also be presented at Birds & Beers. In case you missed it, here are some of the results from the Calgary Count, showing the species recorded and the numbers of each:
