Christmas Bird Count

Is done for the year. We had pretty awful weather, and after worrying about not having anyone to participate due to the odd day that was chosen, I was concerned about not seeing anything because...well, it was really hard to see. The little guy above is typical for what we were up against IDing the birds if we could actually even them spot at all in the fog.

Taken from the truck window, you can see what he is....after a while. Took us at least ten minutes to be sure what he and some fellows were. And at least that long to ID three gold finches in a birch tree.

Sometimes over the day the fog lifted and we could see a greater distance. Sometimes it rained and we were really socked in.

At least fears of heavy pre-Christmas traffic failed to materialize and thanks to lay-offs and vacation, all the usual suspects were able to count.

 Some years when the count is before the holiday traffic is terrifying. Some of our territory is on frantic cross region highways and close to malls and all.

And all in all we had a good day. A black duck was fairly unusual, as was a robin, two red-breasted nuthatches, three bluebirds, and despite the challenging spotting conditions, five red-tailed hawks. 

I believe the starling count was 237, a real high for us in recent years. No doubt they are always there, but tend to not be out where you can see them when it is really cold. I thought we had good numbers overall, although not what we might have had with better weather. No geese. No turkeys....

Anyhow, thank you, Michael, Matthew, Alan, Jen, Lisa, Mom and Dad, Kegan, and everyone who hosted, drove, or called out, "Oh, look, a bird, oooh, aaahhhh!"

Oh, and just FYI, there were cookies. I have yet to meet a cookie I didn't like....just sayin'.