Inclement weather didn't pose a problem this time around, but the number of species spotted in the Ladner Christmas Bird Count was down from previous years.
Held last Tuesday, the annual count came in with a preliminary number of 132 species spotted on count day. Since then, it's moved up to 135 with the numbers for a couple of areas yet to be received. "We're at 135 right now at that's under what we're usually at," coordinator Jude Grass told the Optimist this week. "I think Victoria got up to 140, so they're on top again."
Grass said a good number of volunteers came out for the event, although more would have likely taken part had it been held on a weekend.
She said they were short on feeder watchers.
One of the species not seen too often in these parts was a Bohemian waxwing at the Reifel Bird Sanctuary and a blackheaded gull near the dike.
The Ladner Christmas Bird Count recorded 133 bird species in 2015, a low number that was attributed largely to the lousy weather. Victoria was tops that year, recording 141 species.
The previous year, the Ladner count had 143 species, tops in Canada.
The Ladner count, which dates back to the 1950s, is usually at or near the top in Canada.
The count is part of the regional Christmas Bird Count, which is part of a much larger count across the continent.
It's the 117th year for the counts, an ongoing project of the National Audubon Society in the United States and coordinated in Canada by Bird Studies Canada.
Each Christmas Bird Count is conducted on a single day between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5. They're carried out within a 24-kilometre diameter circle that stays the same from year to year.
