December 17th, 2015
Outdoor Ed. Guy Al Woodhouse and I have had a friendly contest to see who can see more species of birds at our respective nature centres in 2015. Yesterday I saw a northern shrike, a cool but deadly bird that you can read about here: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Shrike/id
The shrike brings my yearly total to 103 species. I doubt Al can beat that, but who knows? Highlights on the list include the shrike, a least bittern, and an olive-sided flycatcher. Here is the list in order of sighting:
White-breasted Nuthatch
Blue Jay
Tree Sparrow
Mourning Dove
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Cardinal
American Crow
Red-tailed Hawk
American Goldfinch
House Finch
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Red-breasted Nuthatch
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
Ring-billed Gull
Canada Goose
Mallard
Common Redpoll
Pileated Woodpecker
Herring Gull
Kildeer
Red-winged Blackbird
Starling
Brown-headed Cowbird
Turkey Vulture
House Sparrow
Coopers Hawk
Song Sparrow
Common Grackle
Northern Flicker
Swamp Sparrow
Common Merganser
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Phoebe
Osprey
Pied-billed Grebe
Bufflehead
Double-crested Cormorant
Chipping Sparrow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Field Sparrow
Great Blue Heron
Ring-necked Duck
Common Goldeneye
Barn Swallow
Horned Grebe
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Wild Turkey
Belted Kingfisher
Hermit Thrush
White-throated Sparrow
Wood Duck
Blue-Grey Gnatcatcher
Green Heron
Brown Thrasher
Common Loon
American Woodcock
White-crowned Sparrow
House Wren
Yellow Warbler
Grey Catbird
Blue-headed Vireo
Great-crested Flycatcher
Redhead
Greater Yellowlegs
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Eastern Kingbird
Black-throated Green Warbler
Northern Parula
Blackburnian Warbler
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Chestnut-sided warbler
Baltimore Oriole
Common Yellowthroat
Indigo Bunting
Nashville Warbler
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Magnolia Warbler
Rough-winged Swallow
Least Bittern
Brown Creeper
Red-eyed Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Eastern Wood Pee-wee
Alder Flycatcher
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Willow Flycatcher
Mourning Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Black-billed Cuckoo
Great Egret
Solitary Sandpiper
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Northern Shoveler
Great-horned Owl
Purple Finch
Northern Shrike