Sending on behalf of compiler Roger Frost. - Kris Ito 2023 Port Hope-Cobourg Christmas Bird Count On December 16, 41 observers participated in the 53rd Port Hope-Cobourg Christmas Bird Count. Their efforts resulted in a total of 16,864 birds of eighty-three species being tallied. These totals were somewhat better than the previous year’s. Good weather on Count Day certainly helped these totals. Two new species were observed on Count Day. These were 6 Ring-necked Ducks found on Rice Lake and 99 Sandhill Cranes seen migrating in two flocks by two different parties. Both these species had been observed only in Count Week in previous years. Seven species were recorded in high numbers. These were: Great Blue Heron (6) Redhead (256) Winter Wren (4) Eastern Bluebird (73) Hermit Thrush (4) Eastern Towhee (3) Red-winged Blackbird (118) The mild weather no doubt aided these high counts. Four species were found in rather low numbers: Mallard (656) Wild Turkey (28) Snow Bunting (5) House Sparrow (22) The mild winter probably played a part in some of these lows as well. The House Sparrow has been in a long-term decline for years. In the 1970s and 1980s, the count routinely tallied over one thousand House Sparrows. In addition to the eighty-three species seen on Count Day, an additional five were seen Count Week. These were: Green-winged Teal Northern Pintail Gadwall American Wigeon Glaucous Gull Other good sightings included: Cackling Goose (5) Bald Eagle (4) Rough-legged Hawk (1) American Coot (1) Long-eared Owl (1) Carolina Wren (1) Ruby-crowned Kingled (1) Swamp Sparrow (1) White-crowned Sparrow (1) Lapland Longspur (1) Many of the participants enjoyed a potluck after the Count at Rural Faith United Church. Thanks to Connie Sakuma, Janet Lake, and Whitney Lake for washing dishes and doing much of the clean-up after dinner. Roger Frost, CBC Compiler