Inglorious Birder: HAMILTON CBC

I just participated in my first CBC! It was colder than a well digger's ass and my bones are still cold but I had a blast and got to see some unexpected (for me anyway) birds! For the couple of unfortunate souls who may happen by this blog via the Nature Blog Network, I live in the Cincinnati, Oh area and the CBC I participated in was just northwest of Cincinnati in the Hamilton, OH area.
I was up all night before with a sick 5 year old. I think we changed his bed sheets 4 times, maybe more. Going birding has a way of keeping me awake and motivated for a good part of the day though, so after a venti Tazo chai tea latte with whole milk(320 calories) I was ready! I was with "the rainman" Bob Foppe whom I had never met before. He turned out to be a nice guy, excellent birder and a numbers freak. Thanks to that we didn't have to worry about counting. We just said what we saw and Bob had them all counted by the end of the day. Bob and I were with Jeff Brown. Jeff Brown; where do I even start? Lets just say I have known him for a long time and it's a miracle I still talk to him. Just kidding Jeff. I always have a good time birding with Jeff albeit not very often.
We met near IKEA which I was excited about because I love IKEA. IKEA has a retention pond behind it that I have been watching since IKEA opened and it finally is starting to hold birds...I guess because it is winter time. I heard there were Cackling Geese there recently. I promise to take my binocs every time I go to IKEA. At the end of the day we found 4 Snow Goose with a flock of Canada's near the retention ponds by IKEA. What is this?!; an ad for IKEA?

Snow Geese with Canada Geese - Photo by Bob Foppe

The day was slow overall and we would see and hear nothing and then run into flocks of birds. There are butt tons of robins around this winter! I was surprised to find around 20 bluebirds for the day and about 6-8 Golden Crowned Kinglets (One of my favorites!) Luckily for me Bob spotted a Rusty Blackbird to make #326 for the year for me!

Golden-crowned Kinglet - Photo by Bob Foppe

We stopped at Subway for Lunch and I said there must be a tanning salon here, there's hot chicks everywhere. And sure enough, 2 doors down a tanning salon. A classic example of finding a species in the right habitat.
I also got to meet Mike Busam who was very friendly as well. He organizes the count I was on and he gave me a cool book "Birds of the Oxbow". I had just told Jeff earlier that I think I liked collecting bird books as much as going birding, so this was a pleasant surprise indeed!

I can't wait for next year!

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - CBC Hamilton - Photo by Bob Foppe