The Scavenger Hunt For Birders Begins

 One Thing I enjoy about the month of January is starting all over again with the yearly bird list. These are the first Canada Geese of the year for me. Can you find the duck in the background?

 The first sharpie was keeping watch at  a cemetery. 

I know for sure that this won't be the last chickadee of the year but it's always a thrill to see the first.

What I like most is that it's such a fun task to search out birds I haven't seen yet in 2020. As the year goes on it gets to be more and more of a challenge to find first of year birds.

Birders Could Learn A Few Things From Golfers

I had a close encounter with a Great Blue Heron at a local golf course. 

It was standing near a tiny pondlet that had a bit of trickling water coming out of a drain pipe.

Golfers seem to pick prime locations to make their golf courses. They have golf carts to drive them around and restaurant/bars on site when they feel like taking break.

If they have a hard to reach spot they build a bridge to it and have caddies to carry around their golf bags if so desired. I wouldn't mind having someone to cart around my spotting scope!

Maybe birders should think more like golfers. It would be nice if birding areas could be enhanced with some comfort features.

 How about bird blinds that are set up in very birdy areas at an angle that has perfect lighting for taking photos? Maybe a silent solar-powered tramway that would slowly move you along the edge habitat elevated to a level for ideal viewing? 

Deer Have Been Our Neighbors This Year

We don't live in a heavily wooded area but there seems to be enough to satisfy deer and turkey. It's nice to see them wander through now and then.

The Christmas Counts Are Here Again

I was out and about for our local annual Christmas Bird Count This weekend. We don't have a very birdy territory but were able to reach 40 species which is a new high for our section of the bird count which included a couple of Winter Wrens and both Ruby-crowned and Golden Crowned Kinglets. We had a great look at this Northern Mockingbird.

 We saw several Bald Eagles during the day. They have gone from nearly extinct to very common in our state which is a great thing to see.

  We had a couple of new guys to help us with our territory. It makes it more interesting when someone new joins the count and also puts more eyes on the birds which helps out a lot. This scene was at our last stop as the sun was going down.