Hello everyone,
The biggest surprise of the day was the number of new birders who joined our walk. Welcome to you! It takes a brave soul to begin birding in January.
It was cold and windy, the lagoons were frozen, and the birds had more sense than we did and mostly stayed tucked away in a warm spot. It was nice to find a raccoon, snug and warm in the first tree cavity. We had some nice Common Goldeneyes at the back of the 59th street harbor, which was the only place where there was some open water.
Mark W. saw our resident bald eagle soaring over the soccer field. Unfortunately, he was the only one who spotted it but it’s good to know that the bird is still around.
We did have one special sighting – a Merlin was perched atop the museum and posed for us as we started the last leg of our walk. I was glad that we found one special bird for our new birders.
BIRDERS: Mike, Jennie, Luther, Leslie, Kristin, Lucy, Paul, Cheryl, Mark W., Caterina, Eric,
Mark C., Marisa, Renate, Pam and welcome to Mary, Connor, Sarah, Aaron, Zoe, and Jonah.
TIME: 8:00am to 10:15am
WEATHER: 35 degrees, cloudy and very windy
Compiler: Cheryl
Photographers: Paul, Marisa, Eric
Canada Goose Number observed: 66
Mallard Number observed: 13
Common Goldeneye Number observed: 2
Red-breasted Merganser Number observed: 2
Ring-billed Gull Number observed: 2
American Herring Gull Number observed: 4
Bald Eagle Number observed: 1
Red-tailed Hawk Number observed: 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker Number observed: 1
Downy Woodpecker Number observed: 2
Northern Flicker Number observed: 1
Merlin Number observed: 1
American Crow Number observed: 3
Black-capped Chickadee Number observed: 9
European Starling Number observed: 9
Hermit Thrush Number observed: 1
American Robin Number observed: 10
House Sparrow Number observed: 3
Dark-eyed Junco Number observed: 10
Northern Cardinal Number observed: 5
If you’d like more information about a bird, check out the All About Birds ID guide:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/
Corrections, additions, and comments are welcome.
Good birding everyone,
Jennie
Photo: White-crowned-Sparrow by Geri Kodey