London Free Press

Mild weather over Christmas meant a record number of Tundra Swans were seen over Lake Erie in Port Stanley, according to volunteers with the St. Thomas Bird Count.

There were 276 Tundra Swans spotted, said Diane Dobson, a spokesperson for the group which counted birds for the 60th year, on Dec. 26.

"Starting early in the morning, 44 volunteers went out driving and walking different areas in a 24 kilometre radius in and around St. Thomas," Dobson said.

The data is gathered for Audubon and Bird Studies Canada.

Dobson said there were 23,525 birds counted, covering 86 species.

That's close to the average number of birds spotted in any one year, she said Around Port Stanley where there was no ice on the water, there were 6,997 mergansers seen on Lake Erie and 2,600 gulls in Port Stanley.

Dobson said the sighting of 12 Bald Eagles is a sign that the banning of DDT has resulted in some success at improving the eagles' habitat and increasing their population.

"Bald Eagles became very rare on the North Shore of Lake Erie before DDT was banned. It took several decades to show the results of this ban. But now there are several nests along Lake Erie that are producing successfully."

Another species making a comeback in this area is the Snow Owl, seen in Central Elgin and the Port Stanley area. Technically, the bird was not seen Dec. 26, but was counted because it had been spotted three days before or after the bird count.

Other rare birds spotted by volunteers included the yellow-rump warbler, normally seen more in the spring, and nine Northern Shovelers, seen at the Aylmer Lagoons.

"These ducks usually are in the south of the U.S., in Florida, the Atlantic cost and southern Texas this time of year," Dobson said.

While the warm weather meant higher counts for species near Lake Erie, there were fewer birds seen at inland feeders. Dobson said the same birds came back two days later when the weather turned colder.

St. Thomas Times-Journal