As a longtime participant in the Pictou Harbour Christmas Bird Count, Ken McKenna is used to spending long hours in frigid temperatures looking for birds. This year however was pleasantly different. | SaltWire
McKenna and the other volunteers conducted the count on Dec. 31. Initially it was scheduled to be held on Jan. 1 but because of a predicted wind and rain storm, they held it a day early.The temperature ranged from 3 C to 12 C with very little wind.
The citizen scientists recorded 79 species on count day and two others in count week. McKenna said this is on the high side of previous counts. More than 13,000 birds were noted which is lower than decades ago. McKenna said the biggest dip was in the number of waterfowl.While the seasonable weather made for a nice day tallying the number of birds spotted, it did create some challenges.
Because there was no snow cover, it made it more of a challenge to spot ground-loving birds such as pheasants which had more area to roam. The pheasant count for instance was lower than in previous years. "There certainly are more vultures being seen in Nova Scotia – both Turkey and Black Vultures – now than 10 years ago," McKenna said.
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