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In the whiteout during a record-breaking snowfall Sunday, a black-capped chickadee spotted a rare specimen of homo sapiens.
Experts have since confirmed that the chickadee’s sighting was, indeed, a binocular-wielding biped—commonly called Tony Beck.
Similar sightings were reported by more than 40 species of birds from across the Ottawa region. It was discovered that about 80 humans had wandered from habitual snowstorm hibernation to participate in the annual Christmas bird count as they do on the same Sunday of every year—no matter what the weather.
“That morning, I opened the door, and the first thing I said was ‘We’ve got to be crazy’,” says Mr. Beck, “but there is nothing quite as tangible as connecting with the outdoors.”
The intrepid birdwatchers trudged through the rising snow and drove slowly along icy roads in a 7.5-kilometre radius of the Peace Tower on both sides of the river.
Mr. Beck, trawling the Vanier Parkway in a truck and wading through the snow, personally spotted more than 20 species, including Bohemian waxwings, American crows, dark-eyed juncos and mourning doves. And the most unusual sight of all that day—a peregrine falcon.
Although the total number of birds and species has not been tallied yet, Mr. Beck says because of the weather, there were fewer than usual. But he was still surprised at the species that were reported.
“When I started off in the morning, I thought that I’d be lucky to get a dozen, but I just pushed myself and surpassed my expectations. It was a sense of victory,” he says.
The stormy weather caused safety concerns and forced the birdwatchers to call their hunt short around 11 a.m., but Mr. Beck says the day was a relative success.
“The most important thing is that it’s fun. It gets you out on cold, miserable days, it lets you test your skills, and you can even get competitive to see how many species you can find,” he says.
Bernie Ladouceur was out braving the blizzard alongside Mr. Beck. He says he has been doing the annual count for 36 years, and these were probably the worst weather conditions he has ever seen.
Last year, the bird buffs counted 82 species, said Mr. Ladouceur. The record in the Ottawa region is 89 species.
However, the nearly 80 volunteers from the Club des
Ornithologues d’Outaouais in Gatineau and the Ottawa Field-Naturalists Club battled the weather for almost five hours. They were divided into six groups, who were responsible for searching for birds in specific areas of Ottawa, he says.
“Fortunately, instead of atrocious conditions, we had just awful conditions in the morning, which gave us a chance find some birds,” says Mr. Ladouceur.
A banquet, in which the six groups gather to compare their bird-spotting prowess and compile the region’s total count statistics, was postponed.
More than 50,000 volunteers from Canada to the Caribbean participate in the count from Dec. 14 to Jan. 5 each year. The tradition began on Christmas Day in 1900, and is currently the oldest and largest bird inventory in the world, says Natalie Helferty of Ontario Nature.
Before the annual event was founded, researchers would simply go outside and shoot large quantities of birds to study. Naturalists found this counterproductive and barbaric, so they created the count to avoid the unnecessary slaughter, she said.
Ms. Helferty is in charge of co-ordinating the 110 counts that will occur in Ontario over the next month. Researchers use the information provided by the counts to assess bird distribution, habitat use and population changes, she says.
“We call it citizen science,” says Ms. Helferty.
The statistics provided by the Christmas bird count have even helped researchers track climate change. As the years get warmer, southern species tend to move north and northern species begin to move south, she says. The northern mockingbird, for example, was once a rare sight in Ontario, but is becoming more common.
Ms. Helferty says that most participants are attracted to the count because they enjoy the interaction with nature.
“It’s just amazing when you’re out there and you get to see these birds live,” she said.
It’s not like watching a bird on a television nature program.
“You can call to it and it will turn and look at you. That’s the engagement that people really enjoy.”