Again, today's post is going to include events of the last week or so.
Last weekend saw a close of 2015, my first year of birding. I ended my year at 70 species, which I am proud of. I could probably have done more, but I think that I did well, all things considered. Some of the birds I recall excitedly seeing for the first (sometimes only) time, are: Yellow Warbler, Common Murre, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Snow Bunting, Pacific Wren, and my #70 a Northern Shrike. My bird of 2015 is probably the Yellow-rumped Warbler, I saw them everywhere.
2016 is upon us and I was curious to see which one of my feathered friends I would see first. Would it be one of our regular Steller's Jay's? Or maybe our resident Red-breasted Nuthatch's, or perhaps a woodpecker, Black-capped chickadee, Common raven, or Black-billed Magpie?
I woke up around 9:30 on Friday the 1st, and made my way to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. My wife and son were still asleep so I had a little time to myself. I opened the curtains on our glass-sliding door revealing the feeders I had on the front deck. I sat on the couch after getting myself some coffee and enjoyed the peace the morning offered. Sure enough, before to long, my first bird of the year landed on the floor boards of my deck, going after some seed that had spilled over the feeder. A perky little Black-capped Chickadee. Hopping here and there, followed only seconds behind by a Red-breasted Nuthatch, hot on it's heals. Later that day I would see a Common Raven, Black-billed Magpie, Boreal Chickadee, Bald Eagle, Steller's Jay, and Pine Grosbeak. Not to bad for my first day birding in the new year.
Yesterday, January 3rd was the Annual Eagle River Christmas Bird Count. This would be my first but definitely not my last bird count. I managed to convince my father-in-law to come count with me, he's a closet birder who is slowly coming around. At least that's what I tell myself. But he is showing more interest which is great. We met others at Jitter's Coffee House in downtown Eagle River to get our assignments and our lists. I met several other bird enthusiasts and talked birds. We then decided we better get a move on as 10:00 am was sneaking up on us. The early bird gets the worm, so we got in the car and headed to our first destination. The side roads in Eagle River were mostly covered in sheet ice, so we decided to park and walk the woods in the first section of our area. We saw Common Redpoll's, Mallard Ducks, Black-capped Chickadee's, Black-billed Magpie, Brown Creeper's, Common Raven, and Downy Woodpeckers. Not bad for our first hour. We then decided to drive the neighborhoods rather than walk, and stop ever block or so to listen and watch the trees. That proved a good strategy and we were able to log a good number of birds.
It just didn't seem like there was near enough time in the day. We had two areas and most of the day was spent in area 2 just trying to count all the birds. We saw hundreds of Bohemian Waxwings, and a large number of Pine Grosbeaks. It was about 2:30pm before we made it to area 2, and by that time a lot of the bird activity had slowed way down. Area 2 included around my house so I counted birds I knew were regulars at my house. The last bird of the day was a Golden-crowned Kinglet.
All in all, we had a great time and I will definitely do it again. I also talked with a few other local birders about starting up an Eagle River Birding Group. I think it will be a great way to connect with other birders. I'm looking forward to a great 2016! I am shooting (pun intended) for 150 species this year, that's double my 2015 list. So far I'm at 13, so not a bad start. And as usual, I'll be out birding during my lunch break.
That's all for now, keep your eyes to the skies and your binoculars handy.
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