When I looked at the Cincinnati bird checklist for January at the beginning of the year, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to reach 100 species in the month for the January 100 Challenge. But after scoring 5 species of geese in one day and getting some very accomodating Lapland Longspurs and Snow Buntings, I thought it might be possible. The impressive thing about this whole run was, despite bitter cold temperatures that kept most bodies of water frozen or nearly so, I managed to find little patches of open water here and there and eventually sweep all of the expected species of January waterfowl. The only regularly occurring waterfowl species that I'm missing at this point is Blue-winged Teal which I wouldn't expect here until around March. In February my waterbird focus will be on finding scoters, Long-tailed Duck, loons and grebes. I managed to sweep other family groups as well, including all of the expected January diurnal raptors, including all three falcon species, and a sweep of the woodpeckers by finally finding a Red-headed Woodpecker toward the end of the month. I also almost swept the sparrows, save for Chipping, which I should get in February. Try as I might, I had some notable misses which proved to be tough finds in the month of January, but are fairly easy at other times of the year, birds like Killdeer, Wilson's Snipe, Eastern Meadowlark and Eastern Phoebe. Sure, I could have spent the last 1.5 hours of January seeking Eastern Screech-Owl and Killdeer on a short nocturnal adventure, but I was very tired after running several trips on the Metro Plus from downtown to Kenwood and back. As a bus driver I was fortunate to have some split shifts, day runs where I got off with enough daylight for some brief birding trips before having to pick up my son at after school care, and late runs where I was able to get some birding in during the morning hours. There were only two days where I spent at least half a day birding. I have to thank a few people who have helped along the way. These include Zeb Acuff, Rick Dunning (who gave us permission to bird with him at Camp Dennison where I added the only Cedar Waxwings and Herring Gulls of the month), Jared Nelson (my son's Cub Scout den leader who invited us to his house for an outdoor den activity where I scored the only Hermit Thrush of the month in his backyard), Joe Bens and his friend Carl (who informed me of the Wild Turkeys just down the road from Lost Bridge, and helped confirm Common Mergansers at the gravel pit) and all of those who reported birds in various media and who made suggestions on where to find birds in Hamilton County.
Since my last post I went to Fernald Preserve on January 30th just before sunset with my son, Adam, after picking him up from after school care. We ran into Frank Frick who was already watching Short-eared Owls (#97) there. We saw three of them fairly close to the observation platform just passed Lodge Pond. The next morning, January 31st, in between work on a split shift at Metro, I tried for one last hoorah with three species to go to reach 100 before throwing in the towel and calling it quits. As I was about to leave, five Sandhill Cranes (#98), descended behind the visitor center in the distance, but still in the county because they weren't as far out as the bird blind which is in the Hamilton County part of the preserve. The cranes made me very happy because I no longer need the footnote that says I have one more species in the ABA area than I do in the county.
I didn't reach 100 species for January, but I'm still very impressed with my ability to find 98 species. This was accomplished with limited birding time due to work, family and other obligations. For the complete list of January birds with dates and locations found, click here.
Now that January is over, I will be focusing on adding birds to the overall Hamilton County Big Year list at a much slower pace while balancing this featherquest with quality family time. Please stay tuned for regular updates. You can view the cumulative list, in chronological order, by clicking the link at the top of the page on this blog.
Since my last post I went to Fernald Preserve on January 30th just before sunset with my son, Adam, after picking him up from after school care. We ran into Frank Frick who was already watching Short-eared Owls (#97) there. We saw three of them fairly close to the observation platform just passed Lodge Pond. The next morning, January 31st, in between work on a split shift at Metro, I tried for one last hoorah with three species to go to reach 100 before throwing in the towel and calling it quits. As I was about to leave, five Sandhill Cranes (#98), descended behind the visitor center in the distance, but still in the county because they weren't as far out as the bird blind which is in the Hamilton County part of the preserve. The cranes made me very happy because I no longer need the footnote that says I have one more species in the ABA area than I do in the county.
I didn't reach 100 species for January, but I'm still very impressed with my ability to find 98 species. This was accomplished with limited birding time due to work, family and other obligations. For the complete list of January birds with dates and locations found, click here.
Now that January is over, I will be focusing on adding birds to the overall Hamilton County Big Year list at a much slower pace while balancing this featherquest with quality family time. Please stay tuned for regular updates. You can view the cumulative list, in chronological order, by clicking the link at the top of the page on this blog.
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