The 117th Annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for the Comox Valley was held on Thurs. Dec. 22 (postponed from Sun. Dec. 18) and resulted in a total of 108 species, including a MEGA-Rarity: a Red-flanked Bluetail, found by Shane Tillapaugh and confirmed on Dec. 29.
Here is a great blog post by Nathan Hentze about the bird.
Snow Goose
Greater White-fronted Goose
Canada Goose
Cackling Goose
Trumpeter Swan
Gadwall
Eurasian Wigeon
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Ring-necked Duck
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Harlequin Duck
Surf Scoter
White-winged Scoter
Black Scoter
Long-tailed Duck
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Barrow’s Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Ruffed Grouse
Red-throated Loon
Pacific Loon
Common Loon
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Western Grebe
Brandt’s Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Cooper’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon
American Coot
Killdeer
Black Turnstone
Sanderling
Dunlin
Wilson’s Snipe
Bonaparte’s Gull
Mew Gull
California Gull
Herring Gull
Thayer’s Gull
Western Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull x Western Gull (hybrid)
Glaucous Gull
Common Murre
Marbled Murrelet
Rock Pigeon
Band-tailed Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-dove
Barred Owl
Anna’s Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Steller’s Jay
Northwestern Crow
Common Raven
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Bushtit
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Bewick’s Wren
Pacific Wren
Marsh Wren
American Dipper
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
* Red-flanked Bluetail *
American Robin
Varied Thrush
European Starling
Spotted Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Lincoln’s Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Brewer’s Blackbird
Purple Finch
House Finch
Red Crossbill
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
Additional highlights were Snow Goose, Canvasback , Ruddy Duck and Glaucous Gull.
Total species: 108
