Snow Day

I had to cancel a trip today; I'd been looking forward to it too. I had a shot at a lifer. Alas a snow storm struck and I got to stay home. But the good news was that I spent time watching my feeders. I had added Brown Creeper to my year's list on Friday (February 25th; 156) and an American Goldfinch on Saturday (February 26th; 157). Today we had a small flock of Evening Grosbeaks, my 158th species of the year.

Pygmy Nuthatch

Brown Creeper

Evening Grosbeak

Great Backyard Bird Count

The forecast of snow kept me at home today, and as it was the weekend of the GBBC I got to monitor my feeders all day instead. I had topped up my seed yesterday and had a constant stream of birds all day long: 14 species in all. The bird of the day was Red Crossbill, a new bird for the year taking my total up to 155. This is a bird that I have had in my yard a few times before but only when I kept a flat-topped bird table. Today two males were feeding on the ground.

American Goldfinch

Red Crossbill

Pine Siskin

Quick Trip to Page Springs

My wife and I spent a couple of hours in warm, sunny weather at Page Springs this morning. She took a bunch of photos but I added just two species to my year list - one of which was a very quick view of the wintering Common Black-Hawk. I ended the day on 154 for the year.

Black-crowned Night Heron

American Wigeon

Ring-necked Duck

Canvasback

Back at Picture Canyon

I had some time on Thursday to have another try for the wren. Despite the cold wind Picture Canyon was quite birdy (although not many species). No sign of the wren but I had a Wilson's Snipe below the waterfall. My 152nd species for the year.

Wilson's Snipe

Dipper at Picture Canyon

The waterfall at Picture Canyon

Five weeks after Picture Canyon had delivered good birds on the CBC, I took my wife there hoping she would bring me luck. Although I again dipped on the wren and snipe, we were successful with the American Dipper, my 151st bird for the year.

American Dipper

January Recap

Despite beginning with frigid temperatures, January stayed snow free until 8am on the 31st allowing more chasing than I'd expected this month. Two CBCs, my bald eagle survey route, sparrow banding and the Lake Havasu boat trip meant 5 serious days of birding. The total of 150 species was more than I had expected but included a drive down to Nogales and across to Lake Havasu. My trip south focused on chasing rare birds (with mixed success) and there many more species are available for my next trip south. In addition I ended the month with just 3 waders (shorebirds) on my list and some easy ones yet to find. February will be a busier month for me and winter can be expected to show its face. I will be more than happy to reach 165 by the end of the month.

Bufflehead

Green-winged Teal

Lesser Scaup