January 1rst!! Great Start!

The weather on the 1st was not pleasant for birding....25 deg and winds howling, blowing snow sideways in the afternoon.

Had to go though. If you are trying to do a "Big Year" the 1st of January is like "Opening Day" in baseball- excitement, anticipation and you just can't miss it.

My 6 year old son Liam stuck out the cold day with me til' the bitter end. In the afternoon at Armleder Park he was walking around by my hand with his hat pulled down over his face but he made it!

We started the day at 7:30am. Liam came in to get me out of bed and between 7:30 and 7:34 we heard Canada Geese, Song Sparrows and a MURDER of Crows. We figured we better get going and I had a good feeling about the day!

My plan to produce the most numbers for the day was to hit the Oxbow, CNC Rowe Woods and Armleder Park.

We went to the Oxbow first by way of Camp Ernst lake to pick up Cackling Goose which we did. I assume they were the same ones we saw there the other day. On the way to Indiana I saw the biggest surprise of the day for me when a MERLIN zipped out in front of the car and across the road. Of all the harder birds to list for the day, the Merlin hadn't even crossed my mind to look for. What was on the list of target birds to try for was Northern Saw-whet Owl, Short-eared Owl, Fox Sparrow, Purple Finch and Red Breasted Nuthatch. I knew where the owls were, it was just a matter of would they be there when I was. Got the owls and the Nuthatch but not the Fox Sparrow or Purple Finch.

The Oxbow turned out to be great producing lots of ducks, a couple of herons and ring-billed gulls. Also a surprising to me couple of Yellow-rumped Warblers. It was really muddy so the Jeep came in handy. After a lunch break at home we went back out and tried to find the Northern Saw-whet Owl at the same location it had been at on Dec. 22. It was there so the trip was worth it. It is one cool little owl!

Next we headed to Rowe Woods to find finches, juncos and such. I had high hopes of seeing a Red-breasted Nuthatch here also since I had seen them here a couple of days ago scouting for opening day. We saw plenty of birds at the feeders but no Red-breasted Nuthatch. We took a hike up the high side of Geology trail not seeing anything and hearing only a few cardinal chip notes and an occasional Red-bellied Woodpecker. But it was well worth the hike when I saw 2 silent Carolina Wrens hopping around a brush pile which would have otherwise escaped the list for the day as I unusually heard none anywhere. The "fork" tree we saw on the hike. Liam suggested that someone planted a fork and it grew into this tree.

Liam heading down to Geology Trail at Rowe woods.

Avey's Run at the base of Geology trail.

After the hike we stopped back by the feeders to hopefully find a Red-breasted Nuthatch. After squeezing out about 20 more minutes listening to Liam saying "Can we go yet" I finally gave up and as I started to turn to leave the little nuthatch appeared as if saying "Oh, alright. Since you tried so hard you can look at me for 30 seconds. YeeHaw!! Got it! Liam could have cared less. As we walked back to the car I heard a strange sound up in the pine trees and stopped to look up. I scanned around with my Eagle Optics Ranger SRT 8x42 binocular and found a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker! which was another I hadn't expected to see. I still am not sure what the sound was....I thought a catbird but didn't see one.

The last stop was Armleder to add harrier, kestrel, multiple sparrows and hopefully short-eared owl to the list. Armleder did not dissapoint. We pulled in at 4:00pm and immediatly saw a Short-eared owl on the wing over the fields and even saw it land and sit in the open for a few moments. Northern Harriers cruised over the fields the whole hour we were there and the owls did so occasionally as well. We also got 4 sparrow species, Belted Kingfisher, American Kestrel and Red-shouldered hawk here. I wish the Rough-legged Hawk would have still been around!

So in the end the trip was cold but well worth it. Lots of cool birds to see and an impressive one day number(for me) to start the year. Following is a list of the 54 species seen.


Taxonomic Order
1Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii)
2Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)
3Gadwall (Anas strepera)
4American Wigeon (Anas americana)
5Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
6Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca)
7Canvasback (Aythya valisineria)
8Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris)
9Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)
10Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis)
11Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)
12Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
13Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus)
14Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii)
15Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)
16Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
17American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)
18Merlin (Falco columbarius)
19American Coot (Fulica americana)
20Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)
21Rock Pigeon (Columba livia)
22Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)
23Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus)
24Northern Saw-whet Owl (Aegolius acadicus)
25BeltedKingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)
26Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)
27Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius)
28Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens)
29Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus)
30Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)
31Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)
32American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
33Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis)
34Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)
35Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)
36White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)
37Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)
38American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
39European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
40Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)
41Yellow-rumped Warbler (Dendroica coronata)
42American Tree Sparrow (Spizella arborea)
43Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla)
44Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)
45Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)
46White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)
47White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)
48Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)
49Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)
50Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
51Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater)
52House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)
53American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis)
54House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)