February 6th, 2013

As we reached the end of January, I thought I would provide an update for the 2013 Property Big Year. I had hoped I could reach 25 species by the end of January if everything fell into place. Well, on Jan 22nd during the last cold-snap I spotted a Rough-legged Hawk ‘floating’ motionless in the air about 40′ above the farm field adjacent to the property. After me saying ‘Roughie!’out loud to myself, my next thought had something to do with how it could keep its eyes from freezing as it faced into the 30km/h wind with a temp of -23C (wind chill included). My eyes were watering as I watched it, and this darn thing was seeing well enough to hunt! It was a nice 25th species.

On the 23rd I had #26, the elusive Mourning Dove! I can’t believe I had to wait 23 days to detect one. Last year I got one on January 13th.

Rounding out the last two day of January I managed to hear a single Bohemian Waxwing calling as it flew over on the 30th, and on the 31st I saw 25 Snow Buntings foraging at the edge of the field! A total of 28 species in January!

It took me until Feb 17th to reach 28 species last year, but almost all of this years species are to be expected on the property at some point throughout the year – I just detected them earlier on in 2013 than last year. Of the 28 this year, only Northern Shrike, Bohemian Waxwing, and Hoary Redpoll were not detected in 2012.  There are 5 species I detected by this time last year that I have not yet in 2013 – Horned Lark, Herring Gull, Golden-crowned Kinglet, White-winged Crossbill, and Pine Siskin.

The two biggest months for new species are January (because even the most common species are ‘new’ again as the calendar turns) and May (because of the songbird migration).  I imagine my total will not change much between now and the second week of March, when Tundra Swans, Red-winged Blackbirds and other early migrants begin their return.

Happy Birding, and I would love to hear about what your sightings!  See the link in Peters post, below.