Photo: Green heron by Lindsay Vacek

Hello everyone,

It was a very slow winter morning, one of those mornings where we get excited when we find a House Sparrow. We did manage to meet our goal of more bird species than birders, and it’s always nice to be outside in nature.

The water was open in the lagoons so our Mergansers, both Common and Red-breasted, returned to enjoy the “warm” water. Towards the end of the walk a bird was spotted perched at the top of a tree across the lagoon. We thought it was an American Kestrel and photos were taken. After reviewing the photos, we realized that our bird was a Merlin! A very nice addition to our walk.

BIRDERS: Beth, Leslie, Kristin, Mike M., Jennie, Cheryl, Mark C., Joanne, Mike R., Jen, Eric, Marisa, Rob

TIME:   8:00am to 10:00am   

WEATHER: 25 degrees, cloudy, light winds

Compiler: Cheryl

Photographers: Marisa and Eric        

Canada Goose   Number observed: 257

Mallard   Number observed: 2

Common Goldeneye   Number observed: 3

Common Merganser   Number observed: 6

Red-breasted Merganser   Number observed: 15

Ring-billed Gull   Number observed: 1

Herring Gull   Number observed: 2

Downy Woodpecker   Number observed: 1

Northern Flicker   Number observed: 1

Merlin   Number observed: 1

American Crow   Number observed: 3

Black-capped Chickadee   Number observed: 3

European Starling   Number observed: 1

American Robin   Number observed: 1

House Sparrow   Number observed: 3

American Goldfinch   Number observed: 4

American Tree Sparrow   Number observed: 2

Dark-eyed Junco   Number observed: 4

Northern Cardinal   Number observed: 10

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