SALTCOATS / YORKTON - The Yellowhead Flyway Birding Trail participates every year in the International Christmas Bird Count held every December, and they did so again in 2023.
Some of the members in the Saltcoats area under local organizer, Arden Bradford, went out counting on Dec. 18.
Some people did backyard feeder counts, while others drove a defined area.
“We had a good weather day for counting the birds with mild temperatures and hardly any snow so many back roads could be easily driven,” noted a YFBT release.
One of this year's highlights was the huge number of flocks of Common Redpolls.
“They were in the country in flocks of 30- 50 and also around in yard feeders that were feeding Canola seeds,” noted the release. “They are small brown and white bird with a little rusty red patch on it's forehead.”
An unusual sighting was two Rough-legged Hawks.
“This is a Northern hawk that migrates through in the fall, but seeing them this late in December is unusual,” stated the release.
