LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON - A lone song sparrow created one of the highlights of an annual holiday tradition in Fort Simpson.

Sharon Herring tops up one of the five bird feeders in the yard of her Fort Simpson home. Herring was one of 10 participants in the annual Christmas bird count in the village last month. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

The sparrow was one of the 328 birds that were sighted on Dec. 19 during the 11th annual Christmas bird count in Fort Simpson. This is the first time that the species has been found during the count, said Doug Tate, who organized the event.

The mid-sized sparrow can normally be found in brushy areas around the village during the summer but migrates south to the United States for the winter.

"To have one stay through the winter is extremely unusual," Tate said.

Ten volunteers scanned the skies, bird feeders, bushes and trees around the village to record both the number of species and the number of birds in the area for the count.

In doing so the residents were among the thousands of individuals from across North and South America who take part in the count for one day between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5.

In Canada the findings from the counts are sent to Bird Studies Canada and then on to the National Audubon Society in the United States, which has been organizing the count for 111 years. The census helps assess the health of bird populations in the survey areas.

"It's always interesting to see how it changes from one year to another," said Tate about the local results.

Tate started his search for birds before the sun was up, driving up the Wrigley road listening for owls. He then snowshoed around the Martin River Bridge, the northwest extent of the survey area, for approximately an hour before heading for the landfill.

"That's always the hot spot it seems," he said.

Common ravens, as usual, topped the species list with 271 sighted, most at the dump. The landfill also yielded one black-billed magpie, the second year in a row that the species has been sighted or heard during the count.

Black-capped chickadees were the second most populous species with 22 observed. In contrast some species had declined noticeably.

There were almost no common or hoary redpolls sighted. Their presence depends on the availability of the alder and birch tree seeds they eat, said Tate.

In December 2005 there were 55 common and 216 hoary counted, while this year only one hoary redpoll was found.

"They're known to be extremely variable like that," he said.

There was also a decline in the number of pine grosbeaks, eight compared to last year's 48 and a complete absence of house sparrows. The species reached a high point in the survey in December 2006 with 70 observed.

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