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9BY1: Quarterly Report March 31, 2020

Posted by indigobunting in Uncategorized.
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Greetings, birders! By the numbers, I’ve had my best first quarter ever, which is rather surprising, given what a fucked-up year it’s been. Highlights include two birds-who-shouldn’t-have-been there: a Say’s phoebe and a crested caracara. The afternoon we watched the short-eared owls hunt was pretty special too. Here’s 2020 so far: Downy woodpecker, black-capped chickadee, tufted titmouse, American goldfinch, mourning dove, red-bellied woodpecker, white-breasted nuthatch, house finch, mallard, American crow, European starling, rock pigeon, common raven, blue jay, cedar waxwing, northern cardinal, dark-eyed junco, white-throated sparrow, house sparrow, red-tailed hawk, pileated woodpecker, greater black-backed gull, common loon, common eider, red-breasted merganser, herring gull, bufflehead, Barrow’s goldeneye, long-tailed duck, American black duck, Say’s phoebe, Carolina wren, common merganser, black scoter, surf scoter, common goldeneye, horned grebe, white-winged scoter, harlequin duck, brant, American robin, sharp-shinned hawk, belted kingfisher, golden-crowned kinglet, bald eagle, horned lark, American tree sparrow, eastern bluebird, rough-legged hawk, wild turkey, snow bunting, northern harrier, ring-necked pheasant, short-eared owl, winter wren, northern shoveler, common grackle, red-winged blackbird, snow goose, great blue heron, purple finch, crested caracara, turkey vulture, song sparrow, American woodcock, Wilson’s snipe, wood duck, eastern meadowlark, killdeer, American kestrel, peregrine falcon, eastern phoebe, merlin.

Year-to-date count: 73. (2012: 40. 2013: 53. 2014: 40. 2015: 43. 2016: 56. 2017: 50. 2018: 58. 2019: 62.)

Comments»

1. Dona - March 31, 2020

Amazing! Crested Caracara isn’t even on my wishlist. Way to go, IB (who looks fabulous in blue, I am told).

indigobunting - April 1, 2020

It was a long way from home.

2. Mali - March 31, 2020

I googled those two birds. That crested caracara is an impressive looking bird. And how lovely that you’ve had such a good start to the year. And also – I love the name sharp-shinned hawk. Though how a hawk could have sharp shins is beyond me.

indigobunting - April 1, 2020

Apparently it has something to do with its keel. “Sharp-shinned Hawks are named for their sharply keeled, featherless lower legs.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keel_(bird_anatomy)
???

3. Helen - April 9, 2020

Wow, it looks like it’s going to be a banner year for birders. (I was hoping to make a pun with “banner,” but I couldn’t find a birdish term that would allow me to do that. Which seems odd, given all the fabulous names listed in these quarterly posts–maybe it’s a failing on my part, I’m such a bufflehead.)


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