Adventures in Birding

Day 1, #1-25

Last year, on January 1st, 2017, I saw/heard 18 different species of birds! I thought that number would be tough to beat, particularly because we're in a brutal cold snap right now, but I saw 25 species today!

I visited my sister in a neighboring county and we drove around her neck of the woods. It's a cool area because it's a mix of rural and suburban with some creeks and rivers!

So my day started with #1, Dark-eyed Juncos, the first at my feeder (and also the first species I saw last year). I ran out to get coffee and had to stop at Walmart (anyone else like to go there super early to beat the rush?). On my way back to my car, I heard, #2, American Crow and then at home in my driveway, I heard #3, Blue Jay.

On my drive to my sister's house, I saw #4, Starlings and Bald Eagle   in a tree right by the side of the road! (I took the photo after picking up my sister. We stopped on the road but stayed in the car and took photos through the car windows) At my sister's in-laws' house, they have a feeder set up, and there I saw #6, American Tree Sparrow, #7, Northern Cardinal and #8, House Finch.

Our first stop was near a covered bridge over a creek. We saw #9, Downy Woodpecker and heard #10, Carolina Wrens. Farther up the creek, we saw #11, Canada Geese, #12, Mallards, and #13, Common Mergansers, as well as a ton of #14, Rock Pigeons, huddled together on a light post over the fairgrounds parking lot.

Our next stop was the "confluence" where the creek meets a river. It's normally a pretty active spot, but we only saw one bird here, #15, Pileated Woodpecker (a very cool bird, one of my faves!). Next up was a park in town along the river where we heard #16, Belted Kingfisher, #17, White-breasted Nuthatch and #18, Black-capped Chickadee. (I have to say that learning the calls of common birds really helps! You don't need to see them to count them.) At another park/field, we saw #19, Northern Flickers and #20, an Eastern Bluebird. Back at my sister's house, we saw #21, House Sparrows and #22, a Tufted Titmouse. On my drive home, I saw #23, a Common Raven flying overhead and back at my own feeders again, I spotted #24, two Song Sparrows, and #25, a Carolina Chickadee (or a hybrid between Black-capped and Carolina. We're right along the hybrid line here.)

That was a busy first day of birding! I was glad we could do a lot of it by car since it was soooo cold!

One bird I was surprised I didn't see was the Mourning Dove. I typically see a lot of them! I expect to see one soon.

Happy birding!