A reminder to everyone, especially you Nunavumiut, that the Great Backyard Bird Count starts today. I took a brief foray out into the wilds of Arctic Bay today while Leah was home for lunch. I didn’t have much time, but it was great getting out while there was still light in the sky (which is returning at it’s usual phenomenal rate).
I have two strategies for getting record numbers of Ravens for this count. Remember the number of birds in this count is the number you see at one time. My first strategy involves finding a vantage point where I have a good view of the dog teams and counting ravens I can see from that vantage point. Today there were fifty-three Ravens, mostly at one team, the one that had been fed most recently no doubt. For the second strategy I head for the dump. No it may surprise some people but you can occasionally find Ravens at the dump. Here I managed to find one hundred and nine. The vast majority of these were sitting on the ground on the hills behind the dump. I spent a little time just watching them, sun themselves, preen and wait for what ever they were waiting for. I had to pull myself away, as I had familial responsibilities don’t you know.
For the rest of the weekend, I’m going to try and expand the species in the count. Maybe I’ll get lucky and find some Ptarmigan igan, er again.
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Thanks for your offer to come and speak to my class. I’ll definitely keep it mind for next week.
I’m also hoping to get out this week to do a count sometime this weekend. I was considering heading out to Victor Bay. I doubt I’ll see as many ravens as there are at the dump but I’m hoping to luck out and perhaps see a non-raven bird….slim odds I know. But it will give me a good excuse to head out with the camera and give my legs a good workout hiking up that hill.
Wouldn’t surprise me to see Ravens at the dump. 🙂 They are most easily found at my school on the playground after recess. They are skilled scavengers!
I had no idea that there was a noticeable bird population in the winter tundra.
Hi Darcy, let me know with a little bit of warning for that talk. And thanks for taking part in the GBBC. Doesn’t look like there is going to be a second species up here this year.
Hi Liza, Ravens are skilled at many things. Chief amongst the things I like about them is their penchant for play.
Hi Michael, We have ravens year round, and Ptarmigan and there could be a couple of other species but we’ve rarely seen them this time of year.
A couple of local bird enthusiasts here in Igloolik went out to count. Only saw ravens as well.
Hey Jennifer & Ian,
It looks like the only counts in Nunavut were here (Thanks Darcy)and Iglulik. Thanks to those Iglulik bird enthusiasts.