No "ooh-ah" birds this year, although I guess team Mayfield South counted the only horned larks. There was a neat little flock of them feeding in the up and down way they have near a horse pasture we passed.
We saw:
1 sharp-shinned hawk
7 Red-tailed hawks
1 Unidentified hawk species...see below
4 Downy woodpeckers
1 Hairy woodpecker
6 White-breasted nuthatches
6 American goldfinches
1 House finch
1 Northern cardinal
1 Mallard duck
4 Unidentified duck species...probably more mallards, but they got behind a tree in high speed flight
134 Rock pigeons
7 Ring-billed gulls
167 Starlings
14 Tufted titmice
157 Common crows
19 Dark-eyed juncos
14 House sparrows (Sassenachs)
4 Tree sparrows
137 Black-capped chickadees
55 Mourning doves
24 American Turkeys
25 horned larks
And 97 Blue Jays
I doubt that 97 is the highest count we have had with jays, but it is certainly the most in a while. They were everywhere in flocks of as many as 25 at a time. Guess they have recovered from West Nile and are having a good year.
It was certainly a weird day. We have been counting MFS for a very long time, probably over twenty years. In that much time you learn where the birds are likely to be, droves of chickadees on Maloney Road, lots of everything good on Ashler Road if it is passable, etc. Yesterday, the good spots were virtually all bereft of birds. Instead we found them in weird places, like a large mixed feeding flock in the parking lot of a tractor trailer place where we have never seen a single bird before. Strange...also strange is not seeing a single Canada goose. There are still hundreds of them down here on the river just a few miles from our territory.
As always it is fun to get out with the family and count the birds. The brothers and I are the second generation to work this territory and we all three of us have kids that will probably keep up the tradition in the future. I for one am grateful for those sharp young eyes when they ride out with us.
Grrrr....damn starlings! We have them by the hundreds in town now. Nasty little birds.
ReplyDeleteWow~! that's an incredible assortment of birds. I look forward to your bird report at christmas time.
ReplyDeleteThey are scarce here. Bluejays are plentiful and a chickadee or two. Not sure why the small winter birds aren't plentiful this year. I miss them. Did have a woodpecker on the suet this morning.
Those nast Starlings. They swarm the feedlots and then fly over to our house three miles aways to poop. If they could figure out how to get into the chicken house they would.
ReplyDeleteLove the bird counts.
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/
I've always wanted to do the bird count around here but haven't been involved so far.....I might learn something too. You've quite an assortment. We have sparrows, pigeons and magpies;)
ReplyDeleteThose were nice pictures you took, did the horse ones come out good? You will have to take a copy for me and I will put them in frames and put them in My new barn!
ReplyDeleteHeh! You were correct. Our list of species are nearly identical. I didn't include the turkeys on my list although I was delayed in getting to my check-in lunch when I had to wait for 10 of them to get out ot the road. (It happened outside our circle, darn it!)
ReplyDeleteEveryone in our group noticed the lack of Canada Geese, too. Very weird.
I'm still waiting for the Purple and House Finches to show up.
Dani, they are indeed, noisy, invasive, destructive pests!
ReplyDeleteDeb, we had a good day despite the absence of exciting varieties. It is one of the most fun days of the year for me, getting out with the family, watching the kids get better and better each year. I love it
Linda, they are certainly not welcome countees...this year we saw quite a few, when it is cold and nasty they hide in buildings and we don't see as many
Linda, it is a lot of fun! Wish we could count this place on the summer count. We have so many amazing birds right here on the farm in summer!
Lisa, soon as I finish answering comments I will put them up and mail them to you. Wish I was quicker and had gotten them when they were rearing!
Joated, a funny year here. It drives Alan nuts that we can't count at home where we have so many interesting birds...even our feeder has several species every day that we didn't see on count day.