Canada's smallest owl, a northern Pygmy-owl, with a mouse was spotted during the Lake Country Christmas Bird Count on Dec. 14, 2021.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Chris Charlesworth

This year, birders documented a few surprises during the annual Kelowna and Lake Country Christmas Bird Counts.

On Saturday, Dec. 18, roughly 40 people braved the snowy conditions in Kelowna and counted every bird species they saw in a 24 kilometre radius around downtown, while another 15 people stayed home and counted the birds stopping by their yards.

In Kelowna, 28,478 birds and 104 species were counted, which is below average from the 111 species counted last year.

“We had six different Anna’s hummingbirds, which is interesting because people don’t usually think of hummingbirds during the wintertime, maybe because of climate change and things warming up, some are staying the winter,” owner of Avocet Tours Chris Charlesworth said.

READ MORE: Kelowna's Christmas bird count reveals couple new twists

The Kelowna count broke record highs with 36 trumpeter swans, 69 hooded mergansers, five Virginia rails and 85 western bluebirds.

Another surprising species counted this year, was a hermit thrush, which is typically a summertime bird that travels south for the winter, and a swamp sparrow that is normally found east of the Rocky Mountains.

“Waterfowl numbers were good this year, we had a lot of raptors, and quite a few owls,” Charlesworth said.

This year, songbirds including finches and nuthatches were lower, but Charlesworth attributes the decrease to the Saturday snow.

Western bluebirds were seen in good numbers on the Kelowna count this year. Bluebirds, which traditionally would have migrated south, are now spending the winter in the Okanagan.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Chris Charlesworth

A few days before the Kelowna bird count, on Dec. 14, Lake Country was spilt into eight areas and about 25 counters were out and about.

“We counted 8,490 birds of 80 species. It’s slightly below normal, but not the lowest ever,” compiler and organizer of the Lake Country Christmas Bird Count Les Gyug said. “The 80 this year was typical of the long-term.”

Much like Kelowna, counters in Lake Country saw Anna’s hummingbirds.

“As long as there are people around with heated bird feeders, some of them stay all winter,” Gyug said.

New to the count was one spruce grouse, which is found in higher elevation forests.

“We know they are common, but it’s a matter of finding them in the winter,” Gyug said. “It’s a fairly common bird in upper elevation forests. We know they are there.”

The data from each bird count will be sent to the bird studies and Canada and added to the Audubon website, where it will be available to the public.

“Many researchers use it to get trends on birds, to know what’s happening over the long-term,” Gyug said.

READ MORE: From the humble chickadee to the Great Horned Owl: How citizen-scientists collect data on birds every Christmas

Christmas Bird Counts started as a substitute for the Christmas bird shoot and have spread throughout North America for over a century.

Not only is the bird count typically a good social event for birders, but it’s also turned into a citizen science project.

“One-hundred and twenty years ago, people were already thinking ecologically,” Gyug said.

— This story was originally published, Dec. 20, 2021

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