My Baltimore County Year! (1 Viewer)

[swankyspoon]

This year, I plan to focus on my local area, that is Baltimore City and Baltimore County. I started birding in mid-2012, so this will be my first year birding a full year. Since I am new to birding, this year will be a learning experience, and will hopefully produce a number of lifers. I have a six-week-old boy, Eugene, so he will be my assistant through the year. I started my 2013 birding year later in the day than I had hoped: watching my porch and taking out the recycling. Still, it was busy out there:

January 1, 2013

1) Dark-Eyed Junco (Delighted my first of 2013 was not a House Sparrow!)
2) House Sparrow
3) Carolina Chickadee
4) Blue Jay
5) Northern Mockingbird
6) White-Breasted Nuthatch
7) House Finch
8) Downy Woodpecker
9) Red-Bellied Woodpecker
10) White-Throated Sparrow
11) Northern Cardinal.

I then went with my trusted assistant Eugene to a nearby patch with a pond that is pretty good for birds. I got nine more, including a lifer!

12) Feral Pigeon (On the way there)
13) American Crow
14) Canada Goose
15) Mallard
16) Ring-Billed Gull
17) Hooded Merganser B
18) American Robin
19) European Starling (On the way back)
20) Song Sparrow (On the way back)

I didn't get a lot of time out there (it was quite cold), so I was quite pleased with my start, and especially happy to find a lifer. It helped that Eugene slept through most of our trek.

 

[swankyspoon]

Day #2 of the year. I didn't have a chance to go out, except to drop off the rent check. Still, I ticked off two birds for the year: one of the smallest birds in the area, and one of the largest.

January 2, 2013

21) Golden-Crowned Kinglet (A really clear and long look at this fast-moving bird)
22) Turkey Vulture

 

[swankyspoon]

I got two more today. The first was outside the window (and I cannot believe it took me three days to find one). The second was found on a short walk with Eugene, feeding under a pine tree in a flock of Juncos.

January 3, 2013

23) Mourning Dove
24) Red-Breasted Nuthatch

 

[swankyspoon]

Three more birds today, all without my assistant, as I tick off more of the easy ones. The first was a pair of black vultures soaring by our development, when I went out for fresh air.

The other two were found in Reisterstown. One flying overhead, with its characteristic nasal call, and the other was a male perched in a woodlot in the late afternoon(bluebirds seem to be tougher for me to find than they should be, so I was glad to find one early in the year).

There were also a pair of BOPs today that I believe were Red-Tailed Hawks, but I just didn't feel comfortable ticking (fortunately in this case, I am certainly that I will get an unambiguous sighting before the year is out)

January 5, 2013

25) Black Vulture
26) Fish Crow
27) Eastern Bluebird

 

[swankyspoon]

A quick afternoon walk in my home patch today led to two of the remaining 'easy ticks' around for the winter.

January 6, 2013
28) Carolina Wren
29) American Goldfinch

 

[swankyspoon]

I went looking for Crossbills today in a Pikesville cemetery (we have had an irruption in the county). No luck: there were two 'suspicious' looking birds, but nothing I could come close to IDing. I did get two more easier ticks today, the first on the way, and the second at the cemetery.

January 8, 2013

30) Cooper's Hawk
31) Tufted Titmouse

 

[swankyspoon]

Took Eugene out for a walk, and got #32. I also must have seen at least half-a-dozen Golden-Crowned Kinglets, but didn't get the Ruby-Crowned I still need.

January 9, 2013

32) Red-Shouldered Hawk

 

[swankyspoon]

January 11, 2013

33) Cedar Waxwing

 

[swankyspoon]

A trip to Druid Ridge Park in Baltimore City yielded three more, one of which was, embarrassingly, a lifer. Also, I am so sure I saw a Brown Creeper, but just not quite sure enough....

January 17, 2013

34) American Coot B
35) Ruddy Duck
36) Red-Winged Blackbird

 

[swankyspoon]

I have been pretty busy, and my birding has been confined almost exclusively to my home turf. However, today I popped by Quarry Lake in heavy wind for 15 minutes and knocked off two easy birds that had been eluding me:

January 31, 2013

37) Great Blue Heron
38) Red-Tailed Hawk

 

[swankyspoon]

Braved cold and wind at a Pikesville pond and got a fairly common lifer I was missing.

February 1, 2013

#39 Ring-Necked Duck B

 

[swankyspoon]

Whew! It's been a while since I've found a new 2013 bird. I haven't had much chance to bird outside off my home turf, but today Eugene & I found a Hermit Thrush on our daily walk around our development (making it the first Hermit Thrush I've seen in the development). Meanwhile, it is bizarre that I haven't seen a Flicker thus far this year....Flicker.... we're waiting...

March 4, 2013

#40 Hermit Thrush

 

[swankyspoon]

Went for a stroll around the woods of my development and got my first Brown Creeper. The bird flew onto a tree around six feet from me!

March 10, 2013

#41 Brown Creeper B

 

[swankyspoon]

This common one should have been on my list in the first week of the year. I'm not sure why it kept eluding me...

March 23, 2013

#42 Northern Flicker

 

[swankyspoon]

Male and Female outside my window this morning.

March 26, 2013

#43 Brown-Headed Cowbird

 

[swankyspoon]

A rainy stop at the local pond.

March 31, 2013

#44 Wood Duck

 

[swankyspoon]

Spring has Sprung, evidenced by the Phoebe in the brambles 50-100 yards from our new apartment.

April 3, 2013

#45 Eastern Phoebe

 

[swankyspoon]

An easy lifer I was missing.

April 5, 2013

#46 Eastern Towhee B

 

[swankyspoon]

In a field filled with Juncos

April 8, 2013

#47 Savannah Sparrow B

 

[swankyspoon]

Enjoying the sun with Eugene...

April 9, 2013

#48 Chipping Sparrow