Rarities seen, records reached during annual Christmas bird counts

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Eagle-eyed volunteers taking part on this area’s annual Christmas chicken counts recorded a Canadian historic first within the seasonal custom begun 124 years in the past.

Volunteers at Wheatley Provincial Park noticed a Limpkin, a big chicken usually present in Florida or the Caribbean, for the primary time for the reason that depend started in 1900.

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“That was an incredible discover,” stated Paul Pratt, previous president of the Essex County Area Naturalists’ Membership and present board member with the Vacation Seaside Migration Observatory.

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“For nearly the entire birders there, none of us has ever seen it in Canada earlier than. It’s an especially uncommon chicken this far north. It’s a chicken that you simply used to suppose it’s important to go to Florida to see it.”

The intention of the vacation chicken depend, which takes place throughout Canada, the U.S., Mexico, and Guatemala, is to offer markers on the well being and unfold of chicken species whereas rising public consciousness about conservation.

Audubon Society ornithologist Frank Chapman began the depend on Christmas Day in 1900 as a counter to what was then a practice often known as the “aspect hunt,” when folks competed to see who might kill essentially the most furred and feathered quarry.

Volunteers fan out in a 24-kilometre diameter from the identical location yearly, recording the species and variety of birds they discover. The depend in every circle takes place on a single day between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5.

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There are half-a-dozen circles within the Windsor-Essex space. Pratt stated there was a record-setting 89 species counted within the Dec. 27 Vacation Seaside circle, together with 82 species in Cedar Creek on Dec. 16.