It took a few weeks to count them all up, but the final numbers have been tallied for the 2020 High River Christmas bird count.

The count took place on the Tuesday of Count week, which stretched from Sunday, December 13 to Saturday, December 19.

It's the 23rd year for the count, which had it's challenges in 2020 thanks to COVID, which saw bird counters head out mainly on their own, or in limited groups to count the number of species in the area.

Greg Wagner put together the count again this year, and says it had a handful of highlights.

New species for the count included and injured American White Pelican at Frank Lake, and a Tundra Swan along the Little Bow River in Montrose on the southeastern edge of town.

National Audubon Society records show that a Tundra Swan was recorded on the 2011 count.

This is an error, that bird was actually a Trumpeter Swan.

Several attempts have been made to try to change that record, but to no avail as of yet.

All time high numbers were recorded for Northern Flicker, Common Raven, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper and Pine Siskin.

The 46 count day species was the third highest in count history.

The 48 count week species was the fifth highest in count history.

2020's count had the highest number of participants, the highest number of field participants and the second highest number of feeder watchers.

Owling was cancelled in riparian poplar forests in High River and along River Road on count day because of forecasted windy conditions.

Owling was therefore conducted on Thursday, December 17, with six people in four vehicles (bubbles).

Despite calm conditions, no owls were heard.

This was the first time that no owls were heard on an owling trip for the count.

The 2021 count will be held on Tuesday, December 14th. Hopefully, we will once again to be able to meet for a pot luck dinner at the Polo Park Community Centre after the count.

Species - Number Seen

Canada Goose - 19

Tundra Swan - 1

Mallard - 178

Green-winged Teal - 1

Grey Partridge - 83

Ring-necked Pheasant - 2

Rock Pigeon - 366

Eurasian Collared-Dove - 219

Killdeer - 3

American White Pelican - 1

Northern Harrier - 1 CW

Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1

Bald Eagle - 35

Rough-legged Hawk - 4

Great Horned Owl - 12

Snowy Owl - 1

Downy Woodpecker - 52

Hairy Woodpecker - 8

Northern Flicker - 110

Merlin - 2

Prairie Falcon - 1

Blue Jay - 59

Black-billed Magpie - 485

American Crow - 1

Common Raven - 252

Black-capped Chickadee - 293

Horned Lark - 2

Golden-crowned Kinglet - 1 CW

Red-breasted Nuthatch - 52

White-breasted Nuthatch - 23

Brown Creeper - 3

European Starling - 63

American Robin - 1

Bohemian Waxwing - 111

House Sparrow - 1613

Pine Grosbeak - 11

House Finch - 171

Common Redpoll - 257

Hoary Redpoll - 4

Red Crossbill - 5

White-winged Crossbill - 51

Pine Siskin - 32

American Goldfinch - 2

Snow Bunting - 112

American Tree Sparrow - 14

Dark-eyed Junco - 13

Brewer's Blackbird - 1

Common Grackle - 1

Total # of Birds Seen - 4731

Count Day Species - 46

Count Week Species - 48

Field Observers - 40

Mammals

Grey Squirrel - 56

Beaver - 2

Muskrat - 3

Meadow Vole - 3

Porcupine - 1

Coyote - 5

Red Fox - 27

Mule Deer - 39

White-tailed Deer - 34

Moose - 2

The 2020 High River Christmas Bird Count is dedicated to the memory of Bill Casscadden, Russ Hall and Gus Yaki.

Bill Casscadden – January 6, 1948 – April 29, 2018

Bill was schooled in High River. The house his grandfather built is still on the corner of MacLeod Trail and 6th street.

He had many loves in life and his family was always a priority. He loved the outdoors, fishing, swimming and skating on the Highwood River. It was a way of life since he was a little boy. 

He always did the New York Times crossword puzzles, which he was very proficient at. He created some puzzles and sold them to several papers.

Bill always had the time to talk about the history of the area to anyone, and contributed information to the historic bird use of Frank Lake. Feeding and watching birds was a great pastime for him. The squirrels were always a challenge.

He always looked forward to the Christmas Bird Count and was the group leader for the Town-West area for a number of years. He participated on his last count in 2017.

Russ Hall -  October 28, 1936 – May 14, 2020

Russ was raised on a farm and attended grade 1 - 12 in Kelvington, SK. He attended Lakehead College, ON where he took Forest Technology. Rus spent many years working in forestry in the Lake of the Woods area, later transferring to Fish and Wildlife (trees grow too slow). Rus also had an opportunity to work as a project development officer off the James Bay coast. 

In 1967 he accepted a position in Fort Smith, NWT as Assistant Superintendent of Renewable Resources. He married his wife Marg in Fort Smith in 1968 and later that year moved to Yellowknife, NWT. Rus was passionate about the outdoors, and enjoyed flying, fishing, hunting and canoeing. He owned or leased seven different aircraft. Ski and float plane flying as his favourites. He also served as the NWT representative on two expeditions to the north pole 

Marg and Russ retired to Cranbrook, BC in 1990. He was active in Air Search and Rescue as well as the flying club. Russ was a delegate on the Sahtu Renewable Resources Board with many trips back north to Norman Wells, NWT. 

In 2001 they moved to High River, and thanks to rich black soil at Berger Farms, gardening filled his summers. Most summers he planted 300+ hills of potatoes. Russ donated many truck loads of vegetables to The Mustard Seed, Inn From The Cold, and Nanton and High River Food Banks.

Beginning in the early 2000s he participated on a number of Christmas Bird Counts, often leading the Town North Group. He attended his last count in 2018.

Travel was part of Marg and Russ's life. Recent trips included Antarctica and South Africa. In recent year they spent winters in Lake Havasu City, AZ. He always sent back the results of the Lake Havasu count to us northerners. Summers spent fishing pickerel (Walleye) at Lesser Slave Lake.

Gus Yaki – August 19, 1932 – August 10, 2020

Gus made significant contributions to the High River count. He attended every count between 2001 and 2019, first acting as a team leader for areas in the town and then for the Southeast Rural Area, which includes the sewage outfall at Frank Lake. He regularly brought a large contingent of people with him to count the birds in his assigned area.

Quite simply, Gus was an institufion who devoted his life to conservation and introdcuing others to the natural world.