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NB Naturalist Feature: New Brunswick’s First Dozen Christmas Bird Counts – 1900 to 1956

NB Naturalist /

Many New Brunswickers know that on Christmas Day 1900, William H. Moore, a naturalist, farmer, big game outfitter and educator from Scotch Lake, York County, New Brunswick became Canada‘s first Christmas Bird Counter. More than 2,000 Christmas Bird Counts (CBCs) have been done in New Brunswick since the year 1900 but William Moore never did another count, and fewer than a dozen were done over the next 50 years.

NB Naturalist Feature: The 2023 Christmas Bird Count in New Brunswick 

NB Naturalist /

About 1000 people participated in 48 Christmas Bird Counts (CBCs) all over New Brunswick in December 2023 and early 2024. 

We spent 1750 hours (equivalent to more than two-hundred 8-hour days) covering 1100 km on foot  and 13,000 km by car in search of wintertime birds. Count Day temperatures averaged -2ºC at the  start and +1 ºC at the end so most count areas had at least some open water.  

By the end of it, we had found 126,000 birds from 139 species plus another two species during each of Count Week and Count Period for a total of 141 species. This is the lowest number of individuals since 2015, but only one less than last year’s recent high of 140 species.

A Summer with Aerial Insectivores

NB Fieldnotes /

This summer, as I was taking a break from this blog and keeping up with the busy season, I had the chance to meet some very interesting insect-eaters. Thanks to Birds Canada’s survey programs, I was able to contribute meaningfully to the conservation efforts for those species, even though the survey I did myself ended up with a total of zero sightings. Read on to learn more about my adventures (sorted by survey) and what you can do to help!

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