Finding First Of Year Birds On Your Home Turf

 I've enjoyed keeping track of the bird species I've seen on eBird this year. I've focused mostly on birding in my own county so far and I've reached that point when I've tallied up most of the easy to find birds. I made a list of some of the birds I haven't seen yet hoping that I could find some right in town. I originally planned to start at our local meadows but found that the road leading to the meadows and the entire area was flooded. This happens every spring when the ice melts up north and causes the water level of the Connecticut River to rise.

One of the advantages of looking for birds on your home turf is that your familiarity with the local habitat. I knew that the local power lines would be a good place to find some first of year birds like this Eastern Towhee. I was also able to add other first of year birds today including: Fox Sparrow, Pileated Woodpecker, and Red-shouldered Hawk. It was great being able to find them close by without having to drive all over looking for them.

 For those of you that use eBird: How is your county list going so far?