The numbers for the High River Christmas Bird Count have come in and overall it was a good year for the count around town.
Biologist and Event Organizer Greg Wagner says by the numbers it was their most successful count ever.
"Well, it was for the number of people who attended and our count numbers were relatively high, they rank among our highest counts. We were really pleased. We had 53 species for the count so it was pretty spectacular."
Overall 53 species of birds were sighted around town, with House Sparrows being the most common, while some rarities included a Robin, and a couple of different Sparrow and Duck species not usually found here in winter.
Wagner says they were also able to count several species of owls along with some Bald Eagles which he says is a key indicator of the health of the local environment.
Here's the complete list from the count:
Species Total
Canada Goose 254
Gadwall 1
Mallard 271
Green-winged Teal 1
Lesser Scaup 1
Ring-necked Pheasant 7
Grey Partridge 25
Northern Harrier 1
Northern Goshawk 1
Bald Eagle 24
Dark Buteo 1
Rough-legged Hawk 6
Killdeer 5
Rock Pigeon 579
Eurasian Collared-Dove 215
Mourning Dove 1
Great Horned Owl 20
Snowy Owl 7
Belted Kingfisher 1
Downy Woodpecker 46
Hairy Woodpecker 7
Northern Flicker 67
Merlin 4
Gyrfalcon 2
Prairie Falcon 1
Blue Jay 41
Black-billed Magpie 598
American Crow 2
Common Raven 126
Horned Lark 11
Mountain Chickadee 1
Black-capped Chickadee 218
Red-breasted Nuthatch 49
White-breasted Nuthatch 27
Brown Creeper 2
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
American Robin 1
European Starling 103
Bohemian Waxwing 714
Cedar Waxwing 6
Snow Bunting 2
American Tree Sparrow 27
Dark-eyed Junco 27
Harris's Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 1
Pine Grosbeak 33
House Finch 137
Red Crossbill 29
White-winged Crossbill 148
Common Redpoll 714
Hoary Redpoll 1
Pine Siskin 17
House Sparrow 1,857
Total 6,437