Guelph's 56th Christmas Bird Count took place on Sunday, December 18. Weather conditions were fairly poor for surveying birds, with a low of -5 Celcius, and a high of -1 Celcius, strong winds, and intermittent snow, which probably reduced counts of some species and the overall species total and numbers. A record 75 participants reported 68 species (slightly above the average of 66 for the last decade) and a total of 12998 birds. There were no new species for the count, but 6 species had record numbers (previous records and years shown in brackets): Greater White-fronted Goose - 2 (1 in 2006) Trumpeter Swan - 49 (36 in 2021) Bald Eagle - 13 (10 in 2021) Belted Kingfisher - 15 (13 in 2018) Common Raven - 58 (55 in 2021) Hermit Thrush - 3 (1 in 2009) The swan, eagle and raven have all been showing steady increases in recent years. Notable, but not record, numbers were reported for: American Wigeon - 2 (record 3 in 1971) Eastern Bluebird - 10 (record 38 in 2021) Great Horned Owl and Merlin were notable absences, likely due to the poor weather. Both were reported during Count Week, along with Golden Eagle and Snow Goose. Winter Finches were generally scarce (25 Common Redpoll, 1 Pine Siskin, and 1 Purple Finch) except for 38 Evening Grosbeaks, which is the highest tally in over 20 years (though far below the record 495 reported in 1977). Thanks to everyone who took part, especially the group leaders, and to Nature Guelph for providing a prize for a lucky participant. Mike Cadman