Surviving January In A Bird Eat Bird World

 January has just about come to a close and my "Big January" list never did get that big. If my tally is correct then I'll end having seen just 81 species of birds this month which is  about 10 -20 species less than what I usually see in Connecticut during January. Finding 100 species requires putting in some full days of birding on the weekend but the dismal weather seemed to suck the ambition right out of me. In a bird eat bird world you have to be tough and I must confess that I "chickened out" this month.

 It was just too cold and windy most of the time. I spent one morning looking for Snowy Owls at Milford Point where 5 had been seen the day before but none on the day I was there. 

 All was not lost though. I enjoyed getting out to see some of my favorite winter visitors like this Great Cormorant chilling out on a pier at Long Wharf in New Haven.

 I came across a few American Pipits in my travels that were doing their best impressions of a shorebird.

I ended the month with American Coot as species 81. not a bad way to end the month. Now it's on to February to find some of those species that eluded me so far this winter. I'll print my full winter list at the end of February.