Daddylion's 2009 list

[Daddylion]

Started this a bit late, but here they are as of April 1st in order (Lifers in bold):

Black Capped Chickadee
Northern Cardinal
Dark-eyed Junco
Downy Woodpecker
Tufted Titmouse
American Crow
American Goldfinch
Blue Jay
European Starling
House Sparrow
Killdeer
Mourning Dove
White Breasted Nuthatch
Redhead
Common Goldeneye
Ring-Billed Gull
Mallard
Common Redpoll (2009's first lifer!)
Hairy Woodpecker
Cooper's Hawk
White-winged Crossbill (About freaked out... awesome sighting)
Brown Creeper (A bird I really wanted to see.)
Pine Siskin (A first for my yard)
Fox Sparrow
House Finch
American Robin
Canvasback
Rock Pigeon
Red-Tailed Hawk
Mute Swan
Common Goldeneye
Canada Goose
Red-Bellied Woodpecker
Long-tailed Duck
Herring Gull
Common Merganser (Finally, some variety with the ducks!)
Red-breasted Merganser
Greater Scaup
Hooded Merganser
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Common Grackle
Turkey Vulture
Red-Winged Blackbird (Great to see these guys again.)
Northern Flicker
Wild Turkey (Seen in a suburban front yard... really surreal.)

Not much but it's a start!

Some of the lifers:

[Daddylion]

April 5th, 2009:

House Wren

Another addition to this measly list. The spring peepers and bullfrogs were singing, it was amazing. Don't know how long it'll last as we're supposed 4-6 inches of snow tomarrow.

Belted Kingfisher
Not sure if it was a male or female, only saw the back of it flying below me, but it was definately a kingfisher. Sweet! It was one of my Michigan top 3 most wanted.

[Daddylion]

April 12, 2009:

Chipping Sparrow (Nice to see them coming back. Saw a small flock of them)

Eastern Bluebird ( It was a male, and It's blue back shined in the sunlight. Wonderful bird, my best sighting yet.)

[Daddylion]

April 17, 2009:

American Kestrel
Drive by sighting, female sighted way up in a tree. What a cool bird!

Great Blue Heron
Another drive-by sighting, was lurking in the reeds with a pair of swans.

[Daddylion]

April 18, 2009:

Song Sparrow
Nice to see them coming back.

Wilson's Snipe
I have no idea how many of them there were, but there strange sounding courtship displays were fantastic.

Tree Swallow
Finally! I was dissapointed by not seeing them last summer, but they were very common today!

Double-Crested Cormorant
There was a huge flock flying over the river. Cool birds.

Bald Eagle
Not a good sighting, but I was sure, I could see the white head and tail. Seen high in the sky over the Henry Ford museum in Dearborn. It was one of my Michigan top 3 most wanted! I've got to make a new top 3 list!

Common Tern
Saw a bunch of them diving into the marsh whilst driving by.

[Daddylion]

Sandhill Crane
Seen landing onto a pond whilst driving by... looked like a person.

Brown-headed Cowbird
Seen pecking in the front yard.

[Daddylion]

Yesterday...

Barn Swallow
It flew so close that I could make out its peach undersides and shimmering blue back. It won't be long now until they join the Tree Swallows in the marsh!

[Daddylion]

May 3, 2009:

Northern Rough-winged Swallow
There were just so many of them! One even got trapped in the sun porch, and kept smacking the glass. But he finally escaped unharmed. Very acrobatic birds. And this bird has by far the longest name of any on my life list!

[Daddylion]

May 4, 2009- May 22, 2009

Chimney Swift- these funny little guys are once again soaring the Michigan skies.
Gray Catbird
Baltimore Oriole- I mistook the call for that of a Cradinal!
Yellow Warbler
American Redstart- Thought it was a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. But hey, it's a lifer.
Eastern Towhee- Thought this one was a RBG too. Saw it on the same day as the ARS.
Rose-breasted Grosbeak- THIS ONE REALLY WAS A RBG! Seen the same day as the ET and ARS
Warbling Vireo
Horned Lark
Great Horned Owl- Seen fliying while beeing swarmed by crows. This was the final bird on my Michigan top three most wanted!

[Daddylion]

May 23- May 25 (Florida Birds)


Anhinga- Saw this before the plane even touched down!
Wood Stork
White Ibis- Seen at a Rest Stop.
Red-headed Woodpecker- Seen at a Rest Stop too.
Black Vulture- Missed this in South Carolina.
Eurasian Collared Dove
Glossy Ibis- Seen with a bunch of White Ibises.
Northern Parula
Swallow-tailed Kite- Such graceful birds
Barred Owl- Such CUTE birds!
Pilated Woodpecker- Such huge birds.
Red-shouldered Hawk- Such loud birds.
Loggerhead Shrike- Seen at a baseball field with a game in progress.
Snowy Egret
Tri-colored Heron- The dang guy got away before I could take a picture.
Yellow-crowned Night-heron
Magnificent Frigatebird
Little Blue Heron
Eastern Meadowlark- Such a beautiful singer!
Limpkin- Seen at the side of the road.
Cattle Egret
Great Egret
Laughing Gull
Boat-tailed Grackle
Northern Mockingbird
Carolina Wren
Green Heron
Osprey- Got a sweet shot of it eating a fish!
Common Ground Dove
White-eyed Vireo

[Daddylion]

Friday, June 12:

Cedar Waxwing- My 100th year bird!:D

[Daddylion]

American Bittern
Seen at the Detroit Zoo, of all places! It was rather hard to distingush the one individual from the mass of imm. Black-crownd Nighties that roamed the place.

Black-crowned Night Heron
At the Detroit Zoo. I'm positive they were wild, they just nested in random trees around the zoo. It was amazing! I saw the first one, a juvinile, flying over the hippo exhibit. I saw my first adult bird in the middle of the polar bear exhibit!!!! There were dozens of juvinilles and several adults. (BTW if someone affiliated with the zoo reads this and for some reason these are not wild birds please let me know!!!)