Summary of Essex County's 2023 Bird Checklist - 309 Species

By Cameron Chevalier

Results of the 2023 Holiday Beach Christmas Bird Count

By Jeremy Hatt

The Holiday Beach CBC took place on Wednesday, December 27th. The Count includes Holiday Beach Conservation Area, Big Creek, the Lower Detroit River north to LaSalle, Boblo Island and surrounding areas. Unfortunately, Boblo Island continues to be inaccessible due to construction on the island but the rest of the count circle received good coverage. 

25 volunteers clocked in 65 party hours during the Count, which included about 30km of total walking and about 250km by car. Volunteers racked up a record-breaking 89 species for the count and 54,933 individual birds! Trumpeter Swan and American Coot were added during Count Week. Participants were excited to break the species count record for the CBC this year and it's a testament to the skills and commitment of our volunteers that we reached 89 species at the end of December.

A Members’ Orientation Meeting was held on January 29^th at the Ojibway Nature Centre.  This was the third time such a meeting was held with the previous two being held before the pandemic started in the spring of 2020. We were pleased to have 30 people sign up for the event. As advertised the meeting was hosted by the Membership Committee and started out with pizza and some desserts.

The business portion of the meeting started around 7pm and lasted about two hours. Carl Maiolani guided those in attendance through a presentation and discussion of the following topics:

Club Structure: Volunteer-only Registered Charitable Organization, Board of Directors, and existing committees (including Membership, Heritage, Junior Egrets, Little River Enhancement Group, Bluebird, and Phragmites).

Activities: Monthly and annual meetings with guest speakers, quarterly Egret newsletter, field trips, citizen science projects, and advocacy issues.

History: Three Egret articles that recap the Club’s history (March 2016, Sept. 2016, Dec 2017)  https://www.essexcountynature.com/the-egret/

Volunteer opportunities: Board of directors, Membership Secretary, Newsletter Editor, Committee members, Liaisons to other nature related entities, Participants in citizen science projects, Fundraiser Organizers and Helpers.

Unfortunately, at the beginning of the evening we did not take the time to do self-introductions as had been promised. It may be appropriate for the Club to consider doing a Members’ Orientation Meeting Part II, that could include a segment devoted specifically to learning more about other members. If we had such a follow-up meeting we could also work on organizing at least some additional committees. For our Club to be effective. more active contributions should be solicited from existing and new members.

Some of the participants in the meeting did provide suggestions that will be discussed by the Board and the Membership Committee in the near future.

By Jeremy Hatt

Since 2015, birders in Essex County have kept a list of all the species found in our area during the month of February, a challenge we call the “Depths of Winter”. It was originally started to encourage local birders to get out during the coldest month of the year and to have a friendly competition amongst ourselves. Depths of Winter used to be conducted on a local listserv named WEPBirds but now reports during the period can be posted to the Ontario Bird Alert Discord server or posted to eBird. Data for the Depths of Winter list is tallied from eBird, Discord, other local listservs, and word of mouth.

2024 was the ninth year birders have taken part in the Depths of Winter challenge. The total number of species tallied this year was 119, tying the record set in 2021. Mild temperatures bookending the month mostly account for this high total w/ many shorter distance migrants arriving earlier than usual and other species being able to overwinter due to almost no ice cover throughout most of the month.

Environmental Advocacy from the Club

By Chris Hart

During the Member's Orientation Meeting in January; there was expressed interest in learning more about the the Club's involvement in various environmental issues. The Board of Directors often reviews and discusses relevant initiatives and campaigns, and following a successful vote, provides comments and/or letters of support.

Recent action from the Club included comments on a proposed local development, and multiple joint letters with Ontario Nature to the Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks on various proposed regulatory changes.

Welcoming the Turtle Conservation Committee

By Alexander Campbell