November 22nd, 2011

It did not take long for the 110th species to find its way to the Env. Ed. Centre property. Each day last week I heard the call notes of the White-winged Crossbills as they flew back and forth over the forest in search of conifers. This year the Eastern Hemlocks and White Spruce have an abundance of cones/seeds. Crossbills are not reliable in a single location for long as they are quite nomadic, but if you keep your eyes (and ears) open you might be lucky! It is a species that I would love to photograph and this winter might provide a couple of opportunities.

Linked to YouTube, this is a wonderful video made by The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, that explains their natural history very well and the images are very nice too.

Seeing 100 species on the property in a single year is quite remarkable, but seeing 110 is fantastic! Before the fall migration I thought there was a chance of achieving 110, but there were some species missing from the list by the time most of our migrants had already headed south. Expected species that are missing for 2011 include: Palm Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, House Wren, Willow Flycatcher, Yellow-billed Cuckoo (not expected, but was possible), and Northern Harrier. Out of that list, only Northern Harrier is still a realistic possibility. In order to surpass 110 species it would take sighting a Northern Harrier or have a real surprise species show up (like the White-winged Crossbill). If I turn the calendar to 2012 and the number of species remains at 110 I will consider that quite an exceptional year for birding the property : ) This is the first year that I have tried this and the bar has been set to the limit, I am certain.