Near the end of each year, tens of thousands of birders in the Western Hemisphere take part in the Christmas Bird Count (CBC). Participants are assigned a series of locations where they count the number of birds of each species seen. One of the places that two friends and I were assigned to visit was Taghum (10 km downriver from Nelson). Below are a few birds we saw there: Common Goldeneye, Barrow’s Goldeneye, Red–breasted Merganser, Ruffed Grouse. The somewhat unexpected observation for this region was the Red–breasted Merganser.
Female (left) and male (right) Barrow’s Goldeneyes
Two male Barrow’s Goldeneyes (front) and one male Common Goldeneye (back)
Female Red–breasted Merganser
Ruffed Grouse by the side of the road
