April Roundup

 Heck yeah, April.

The Willet was a lifer, but the Yellow-throated Warbler is the one I want to talk about, because it's an extremely ironic bird. When talking about my goal of 200 species for the year, Yellow-throated Warbler is the example I used multiple times for a bird that I would specifically not get in 2022. "Oh, I'm going to have to get really lucky in order to beat my previous record, because there are birds I saw in 2021 that I just have no chance of getting in 2022, like that random Yellow-throated Warbler in Burlington in the fall." (For context, I previously had to travel to West Virginia to see one; they are a bird that stays south of here.)

Not only did one show up right in my home city this month, there was apparently another one the next city over that was found just a few days later. Typical migration weirdness, or expanding ranges? Only time will tell.

• 81. American Woodcock
• 82. Wood Duck
• 83. Blue-winged Teal
• 84. Turkey Vulture
• 85. Willet
• 86. Bonaparte's Gull
• 87. Northern Mockingbird
• 88. Double-crested Cormorant
• 89. Green-winged Teal
• 90. American Wigeon
• 91. Common Loon
• 92. Eastern Phoebe
• 93. Brown-headed Cowbird
• 94. Eastern Towhee
• 95. Sandhill Crane
• 96. Eastern Meadowlark
• 97. Cooper's Hawk
• 98. Pileated Woodpecker
• 99. Hermit Thrush
• 100. Belted Kingfisher
• 101. Tree Swallow
• 102. Chipping Sparrow
• 103. Winter Wren
• 104. Osprey
• 105. Yellow-rumped Warbler
• 106. Pied-billed Grebe
• 107. Yellow-throated Warbler
• 108. Virginia Rail
• 109. Sora
• 110. Swamp Sparrow
• 111. Ruffed Grouse
• 112. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
• 113. House Wren
• 114. Savannah Sparrow
• 115. Pine Warbler
• 116. Northern Harrier
• 117. Broad-winged Hawk
• 118. Brown Thrasher
• 119. Palm Warbler
• 120. Barn Swallow
• 121. Tufted Titmouse
• 122. Northern Rough-winged Swallow
• 123. Cliff Swallow
• 124. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
• 125. Yellow Warbler

New Camera Who Dis

Alright, I owe you guys some photos after that last text-heavy post.

I treated myself to a new camera late last year: a Nikon Coolpix P1000, aka the point'n'shoot with the thoroughly ridiculous zoom. It has a 'bird' setting right there on the main options dial, so clearly they know their target audience. No regrets so far.

Northern Mockingbird

Hermit Thrush

Hooded Merganser and Mallards

Eastern Bluebird (far more cooperative and photogenic than the Mountain Bluebird at that same location - the Mountain was determined to be blurry)

Long-tailed Ducks

Eastern Screech-Owl

Peregrine Falcon

Evening Grosbeaks @ Algonquin Visitor's Center (imagine having these at your backyard feeder all winter?)

Pine Grosbeak @ Algonquin Visitor's Center

Red Crossbills (FINALLY. Not a great shot in terms of actual image but a fantastic diagnostic shot considering how far away they were)

Oh Hey There 2022

Right, last we spoke I was thinking about going for 200 this year. Well, I'm off to a decent start. I can't call this a 'big year' because honestly I'm not putting in enough effort for it to be a true big year, but it'll still be interesting to see how many species I can get without going completely nuts.

I made some waterfront trips in January to kick things off strong. Add to that the fact that it was a new year and therefore every bird was a new bird, even the common stuff added up quickly. By the end of the month I was already at 53. I admit I kind of want to list them, but that sounds like it would be really boring for everyone who's not me. 

...screw it, though, it's my blog.

• 1. Red-bellied Woodpecker
• 2. Downy Woodpecker
• 3. Blue Jay
• 4. American Crow
• 5. Black-capped Chickadee
• 6. European Starling
• 7. Eastern Bluebird
• 8. Mountain Bluebird
• 9. American Robin
• 10. American Tree Sparrow
• 11. Dark-eyed Junco
• 12. Northern Cardinal
• 13. Canada Goose
• 14. Red-tailed Hawk
• 15. Carolina Wren
• 16. White-crowned Sparrow
• 17. Trumpeter Swan
• 18. Mallard
• 19. Canvasback
• 20. Redhead
• 21. Ring-necked Duck
• 22. White-winged Scoter
• 23. Bufflehead
• 24. Common Goldeneye
• 25. Hooded Merganser
• 26. Red-breasted Merganser
• 27. American Coot
• 28. Ring-billed Gull
• 29. Mourning Dove
• 30. American Goldfinch
• 31. White-throated Sparrow
• 32. Rough-legged Hawk
• 33. Snow Bunting
• 34. House Sparrow
• 35. Field Sparrow
• 36. Harlequin Duck
• 37. Long-tailed Duck
• 38. Snowy Owl
• 39. Common Raven
• 40. Red-breasted Nuthatch
• 41. White-breasted Nuthatch
• 42. Herring Gull
• 43. Great Black-backed Gull
• 44. Mute Swan
• 45. American Black Duck
• 46. Greater Scaup
• 47. Rock Pigeon
• 48. Bald Eagle
• 49. Eastern Screech-Owl
• 50. Golden-crowned Kinglet
• 51. Gadwall
• 52. Northern Saw-whet Owl
• 53. House Finch

The highlights were obviously the three lifers: Mountain Bluebird, a western vagrant that was spotted right here in my city during the Christmas Bird Count and obligingly hung around for a while; Harlequin Duck, which I had to take a drive to Oakville to see on a freezing, blustery afternoon on the lake; and Northern Saw-whet Owl, which... come to think of it was also a bitterly cold day to be outside, but worth it for an owl. Notable misses include the Harris' Sparrow that I made two tries to see but just missed both times, and the Lapland Longspur that apparently was hanging around with what was probably the same flock of Snow Buntings that I saw, just a week later when there was more snow cover and they weren't all hiding in the corn stover.

February was a bit less productive, but it was February, so what do you expect. Who wants to do anything but hibernate in February, seriously. I did finally get the Red-shouldered Hawk that likes to hang out down by the highway, and the Peregrine Falcons were back at their nest site on the Burlington lift bridge doing some hunting and vocalizing, so that was a treat to see.

• 54. Cedar Waxwing
• 55. Northern Pintail
• 56. Common Merganser
• 57. Merlin
• 58. Northern Shoveler
• 59. Lesser Scaup
• 60. Ruddy Duck
• 61. Great Blue Heron
• 62. Peregrine Falcon
• 63. Red-shouldered Hawk

In March, I finally made my trip up to Algonquin to snag some winter finches. I've only been saying I was going to do that for years now. In the process I got three more lifers: Black-backed Woodpecker, which was just... sitting there waiting for us when we got on our first trail; and finally, FINALLY some crossbills. They were the bane of my existence last winter, when I searched and searched and couldn't find a single one despite it being a 'super irruption' year, but now they are finally mine. Notable misses on that trip were Canada Jay, Spruce Grouse, and Boreal Chickadee - next time, I guess.

• 64. Pine Siskin
• 65. Hairy Woodpecker
• 66. Pine Grosbeak
• 67. Purple Finch
• 68. Common Redpoll
• 69. Black-backed Woodpecker
• 70. White-winged Crossbill
• 71. Evening Grosbeak
• 72. Red Crossbill
• 73. Wild Turkey
• 74. Red-winged Blackbird
• 75. Killdeer
• 76. Northern Flicker
• 77. Song Sparrow
• 78. Brown Creeper
• 79. Bohemian Waxwing
• 80. Common Grackle

By the end of March, you can see the migrants already starting to show up - the grackles and blackbirds are usually some of the first. April should see some good movement of migrants and a whole lot of possibilities.