Fwd: Results of the Nelson CBC for 2025

[Elaine M]

Hello.

Here are the results of the Nelson CBC that was held on January 3, 2026.

Enjoy!

Elaine Moore

Hello, all, and welcome to 2026.

Thank you very much to everyone who was out in the rain or watching birds at their feeders/in their yards on Count Day - January 3, 2026. All effort is greatly appreciated.

We had our youngest birder again this year – the now three-year-old grandson of one of our participants.  He was able to identify, again without prompting, Canada Goose, Mallard, Barrow’s Goldeneye, Common Merganser, and Bufflehead. He was birding along the Lake from the bridge to the soccer fields with his Nana.

This year’s count was held during a rather rainy day, with some snow, and one team reporting some sleet. The temperature ranged between -1ºC and +3°C throughout the day, with mostly slushy snow where there was any – a little bit of ice, but not much. With 28 participants out in the elements and six feeder/yard watchers we ended up with a total of 48 species of birds, including a “rare” bird this year – a Gray Catbird – and seven count week species, for a total of 2,062 birds, which is only 199 less than our 2024 count.

The average number of birds seen in the last 20 years (2006 to 2025) is 2,398.55 birds, so we are a bit below that average, and the species total of 48 is just below the 20-year average of 49.20 species.

There was only one new species (the Gray Catbird) seen this year, and seven species added as count week birds.

Here is a table of all the birds reported for this count:

126th Audubon Christmas Bird Count – Nelson, BC – January 3, 2026

Canada Goose	122	Pileated Woodpecker	1
Trumpeter Swan	3	Merlin	1
Gadwall	1	Diurnal raptor sp. (not in total)	1
American Wigeon	55	Northern Shrike	1
Mallard	46	Steller’s Jay	19
Canvasback	1	American Crow	29
Redhead	20	Common Raven	29
Ring-necked Duck	24	Black-capped Chickadee	120
Greater Scaup	307	Mountain Chickadee	cw
Lesser Scaup	1	Chestnut-backed Chickadee	28
Bufflehead	24	Boreal Chickadee	1
Common Goldeneye	6	Red-breasted Nuthatch	17
Barrow’s Goldeneye	8	American Dipper	2
Hooded Merganser	4	Golden-crowned Kinglet	43
Common Merganser	15	Townsend’s Solitaire	3
Duck sp. (not in total )	2	American Robin	770
Wild Turkey	64	Varied Thrush	1
Pied-billed Grebe	1	Gray Catbird (the “Rare” bird)	1
Horned Grebe	cw	European Starling	2
Red-necked Grebe	3	Bohemian Waxwing	cw
Great Blue Heron	1	Dark-eyed Junco	23
Bald Eagle	4 AD, 2 IMM	Song Sparrow	56
American Coot	1	Gray-crowned Rosy-finch	cw
Rock (Feral) Pigeon	53	Pine Grosbeak	cw
Great Horned Owl	1	House Finch	70
Downy Woodpecker	1	Pine Siskin	cw
Hairy Woodpecker	1	American Goldfinch	14
Northern Flicker	42	House Sparrow	17

I have decided to retire as the Co-ordinator-Compiler for the Nelson CBC and Gaelen Schnare has graciously agreed to do this in future.  Thank you, Gaelen!

--

Elaine Moore

Co-ordinator and Compiler

Nelson CBC

[marlene johnston]

Thanks Elaine for posting.

Below is the summary for Lardeau. 

I find it interesting how the species present in Nelson is quite different from the Lardeau count. Although we had a record breaking species of 49, you had ~22 species, mostly waterfowl (makes sense) that we did not. Which also means we had a similar number of species that you didn’t!

marlene at lardeau

Lardeau counted a record-breaking 49 species on December 27th with another 3 species (Snow Bunting, Northern Shrike, Northern Harrier) for count week. The previous high was 47 species and that has happened 3 times. Last CBC (2024) we saw 44 species and it was much warmer than the cold and windy 2025 count day. The average number of species over 29 years has been 37-38. 

There were a lot more individual birds this count (1637), compared to 2024 with 957 and only 649 in 2023. The high number is due in part to record numbers of Canada Geese (180), American Robins (43), Townsend Solitaires (12), Cassin's Finch (10) and Bohemian Waxwings (209), plus a good number of Pine Siskins (477). Other highlights include the presence of Canada Jays and Clark’s Nutcrackers, and so few Ruffed Grouse (1). 

Canada Geese 180

Mallard  26

Green-winged Teal   6

Bufflehead  17

Common Goldeneye  14

Barrow’s Goldeneye   1

Common Merganser  68

Red-breasted Merg   2

Ruffed Grouse   1

Wild Turkey  57

Common Loon   1

Horned Grebe  18

Great Blue Heron   2

Bald Eagle   8

California Gull    1

Herring Gull    1

Northern pygmy Owl   1

Belted Kingfisher   2

Hairy Woodpecker   2

Northern Flicker  17

Pileated Woodpecker   5

Merlin   1

Canada Jay   3

Steller’s Jay  26

Clark’s Nutcracker   3

American Crow   4

Common Raven  57

Black-capped Chickd  96

Mountain Chickadee   2

Chestnut-backed  44

Red-breasted Nuthat  29

Brown Creeper   4

Pacific Wren   2

American Dipper  16

Golden-crowned King  57

Townsend’s Solitaire  12

American Robin  43

Varied Thrush    3

European Starling   6

Bohemian Waxwing 209

Dark-eyed Junco  22

(Dark-eye Junco slate)   6

(Dark-eye Junco Oreg) 20

Song Sparrow  10

Red-winged Blackbird  25

Cassin’s Finch  10

Red Crossbill  16

Redpoll   3

Pine Siskin 477

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[Cynthia Fraser]

Thanks Elaine!

Here’s my photo of Nelson’s visiting Gray Catbird. (With some blurred branches in the foreground). John Schnare noticed it, Gaelen Schnare identified it, I photographed it. A great team response. 

Cynthia Fraser

___________________________ Fraser...@gmail.com

[Carolee Colter]

Thank you, Elaine, for your many years of service to the birding community, compiling all those CBCs. You were doing it when we moved here in 2008 and I don't know how long you were doing it before that. 

On Thu, Jan 8, 2026 at 5:22 PM Elaine M <elmo...@telus.net> wrote:

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Carolee Colter
P.O. Box 1055
Nelson, BC VIL 6H3
Canada
(250) 505-5166 phone

[Gary Davidson]

Two days after the Nakusp CBC, (Dec 28), Marie and I drove to the coast, a couple of days after that we flew to Kenya. We are still there. Will be back in Nakusp Jan 15, 16, or ..... 

We have been in Kenya for about a week and have seen about 35 species of mammals and lots of birds - haven't done a full list yet. 2 sample pics below.

Will send CBC results when I can

Gary

[Barbara]

Thanks for all your hard work and dedication to the bird count. We appreciate the effort you have made over the past years.

Thanks Gaelen, for taking over this position.

Barbara & Neville

Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 8, 2026, at 17:22, Elaine M <elmo...@telus.net> wrote: