by Bob Yukich
The annual High Park Christmas Bird Count was held on Sunday, Dec. 19, 2021 (a mostly sunny day with light snow-cover). Our route recorded a total of 46 species and 3,961 individuals.
No unexpected species were found this year. The rarest sighting was a Northern Mockingbird – the first for this count area since 2011 – feeding in a sumac at Ellis Ave. and the Queensway. Other highlights were 5 Wood Duck, 46 Northern Shoveler, 24 Hooded Merganser, 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk, 2 Great Horned Owl, 2 Common Raven and a single Red-winged Blackbird.
Because of a particularly mild first half of December, all ponds were ice-free. Birds seen in the days leading up to count, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Ruddy Duck, Belted Kingfisher and Hermit Thrush, could not be found on count day.
See High Park Christmas Bird Count 2021 and previous years’ results (Excel, 54 Kb).
The High Park count area includes High Park and vicinity. The boundaries are Parkside Drive-Keele St. on the east, Eglinton Ave. on the north, South Kingsway-Jane St. on the west, and Lake Ontario on the south. The count is coordinated through the Toronto Ornithological Club and Birds Canada.
Find a Christmas Count group near you:
- In Ontario, on Ontario Nature.
- In Canada, on Birds Canada.
