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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

How is your 2011 List Going? (8 Viewers)

Things are a little slow around here. I've seen most of the winter birds and few migrants are moving in yet. However, I did see a new bird for the year today, number 114.

114. Bonaparte's Gull

Usually I see this bird on the first day of the year, but everything has been frozen solid around here until recently, so ducks, gulls, and other water birds have been hard to come by.

Dave
 
Jeff, as you know, the number of birds a person can see in a day depends on so many variables that actual "one person to one person" comparisons are very difficult.
Feel good about yourself, and "Good Birding"!


Thanks, Larry.
You're right, of course. However, one of these days I'm going to do a "big day" here - IF my wife lets me!
Jeff.
 
I take it that you have been down in Texas then (for the Whooping Crane) or were you able to see one (some) migrating?

No Larry, these are birds from the population that was established in Wisconsin several years back. They are wild and free-flying (not the ones that follow the light aircraft, although they may be descended from them), and stop over at a nearby wetland every spring and fall on their way to and from their wintering grounds in Florida.

Dave
 
I went birding this morning around the oxbow lakes region just south of my home town, Saint Joseph, Missouri. I recorded 20 species of waterfowl. One of these happened to be the one I have been searching for quite a while now.

105. Red-breasted Merganser, two nice looking drakes swimming with some Common Mergansers (aka. Goosanders) on Horseshoe Lake.
 
Two new nice spring migrants this morning, so I'm up to 118.

117. Blue-winged Teal
118. Brewer's Blackbird

By getting the teal, I have now seen all of the regularly occuring ducks of this area for the year. And the blackbird is a tough bird to find here; it is one I could easily miss for the year.

Dave
 
This evening just at dusk, I went out into the field behind my house to look for woodcocks. They've been calling for the last two weeks or so, but because of bad weather and other things I had to do, I wasn't able to get out and look for them. I had one calling in my spotlight, giving me some of the best looks I've ever had of a woodcock.

119. American Woodcock

Dave
 
52. Woodchat Shrike (Kuwait)
53. Black-winged Stilt (Kuwait)
54. Mourning Wheatear (Kuwait)
55. Common Redstart – Subsp. samamisicus (Kuwait)
 
106. Northern Goshawk, a winter resident (rare) in Missouri, flew around and over our yard this morning. Same size as a Red-tailed Hawk, long tail (not quite as rounded off as our Cooper's Hawk). Wings appeared more pointed than the Cooper's. I could not see the broad, white eye brow as it was rather high in the air! I wish it would have perched so I could have gotten a better look!
 
finally got to go birding on a weekend trip to Devon, cracking weather, but no migrants quite yet.

128. Egyptian Goose
129. Green Woodpecker
130. Pink-footed Goose
131. Common Sandpiper
 
Spring has finally arrived!

10 March
81. Greylag Goose

11 March
82. Skylark
83. Starling
84. Wood Pigeon
85. Stock Dove

March 12
86. Lapwing
87. Kestrel

First rarity (kinda) for the year, a Glaucous Gull on a garbage dump (where else?). Huge 2cy bird.

March 13
88. Pygmy Owl
89. Glaucous Gull
 
56. Common (European) Starling (Kuwait)

57. Water Pipit (Kuwait)

58. Ruff (Kuwait)

59. Sand Martin (Kuwait)

60. Collared Pratincole (Kuwait)
 
Had a good 2 days of birding in the Texas Hill Country and added:
156. White-eyed Vireo
157. Wild Turkey
158. Green Jay
159. Bewick's Wren
160. Rock Wren
161. Northern Parula
162. Great Kiskadee
163. Golden-fronted Woodpecker
164. Verdin
165. Northern Rough-winged Swallow
166. Cinnamon Teal
167. Black Phoebe
168. GOLDEN-CHEEKED WARBLER (lifer)
169. Yellow-throated Warbler
170. Black-crested Titmouse
171. Hutton's Vireo
172. Black-chinned Hummingbird
173. Black-throated Sparrow
174. Lesser Goldfinch
175. Clay-colored Sparrow
176. Rufous-crowned Sparrow
177. Bonaparte's Gull
178. Least Grebe
179. Grasshopper Sparrow

Missed some easy birds and heard several more that I didn't manage to see - but the Golden-cheeked Warbler made up for them!

I'm well ahead of where I was this time last year, when I didn't reach 179 species until the end of April. Given that shorebird and warbler migration is just starting in our area, I should be able to get to 200 species in the next 6 weeks.

Jeff
www.jeffincypress.blogspot.com
 
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