Friday, January 19, 2024

There's Lots Of Birds Even In January!

One of the ways I've tried to make the winter pass by more quickly is by keeping track of how many bird species in can find in the month of January. There are more species in Connecticut during the winter than you might think. I've found 100 species in the Connecticut during the month of January and there are others who have found many more than that. Driving around Connecticut gets to be tiring so now I only pay attention to what I find in my own county. A lot less time consuming and a lot more fuel efficient. 

It was 20 degrees and windy on the morning I saw this great Blue Heron. It was standing completely still. It's hard to believe it was out there day and night while I could only tolerate a couple of hours in that kind of weather before packing it in and calling it a day.

Colorful ducks like this male Hooded Merganser are one of the premier attractions during the winter. I'm not going to get anywhere near to seeing 100 species in Middlesex County before the end of January. I am at 82 right now. My next goal is to try to hit 85. I'll worry about the next goal if I can accomplish that. The best part about it though is that January seems to be going by so fast!
 

1 comment:

Nan said...

I just love that you do this. Both birds just amaze me. Cold weather and cold water and they just go on.
We didn't feed the birds early, but recently began again. The first to come were blue jays and woodpeckers - the Hairy and the Downy. Then pretty soon the deer and turkeys came, and the chicadees, nuthatches, and juncos. Suddenly the air is full of movement and it just changes my life. I don't leave home a lot so I have been greatly cheered by their company. How do birds and deer know when there is food out? A little miracle.