Photo: Varied Thrush by Rex Guichard
December 6, 2022
Conditions were cloudy and chilly with snow-covered ground, but we had a good morning of birding. A Varied Thrush was the bird-of-the-day, but we also saw several duck species that included Wood Duck, Common Merganser, and Ruddy Duck, a fan-tailed Cooper’s Hawk, Brown Creeper, and several Purple Finches. After a warming lunch at Doug Coopers home, we cut our birding short so we could visit our longtime leader Virginia Clark to give her love and sing her some seasonal carols. The species count includes Virginia’s feeders.
44 species (approx. qty.)
Attendees: Phil, Ed, Sue P., Wilma, Rick, Rex, Doug, Jane, Reg, Jeff, Graham, Melissa
CHECKLIST:
WATERFOWL: Domestic Goose (1), Canada Goose (12), Trumpeter Swan (1), Wood Duck (1), Gadwall (67), American Wigeon (77), Mallard (555), Northern Shoveler (39), Ring-necked Duck (67), Lesser Scaup (200), Bufflehead (10), Common Merganser (23, Ruddy Duck (4)
LOON, GREBES: Pied-billed Grebe (3)
PELICANS, HERONS, IBIS: Double-crested Cormorant (1), Great Blue Heron (5)
RAPTORS: Bald Eagle (2), Cooper’s Hawk (1), Red-tailed Hawk (2)
GULLS, TERNS: Glaucous-winged Gull (12)
DOVES, PIGEONS: Mourning Dove (1)
HUMMMINGBIRDS: Anna’s Hummingbird (1)
WOODPECKERS: Hairy Woodpecker (1), Northern Flicker (3)
CORVIDS: Steller’s Jay (4) American Crow (37), Common Raven (2)
CHICKADEES, BUSHTIT: Black-capped Chickadee (8), Chestnut-backed Chickadee (3)
NUTHATCHES, CREEPER: Brown Creeper (1)
WRENS: Bewick’s Wren (1), Pacific Wren (2)
KINGLETS: Ruby-crowned Kinglet (2)
THRUSHES: American Robin (4), Varied Thrush (2)
MIMIDS, STARLINGS: European Starling (2)
LONGSPURS, SPARROWS: Spotted Towhee (3), Song Sparrow (4), Golden-crowned Sparrow (2), Dark-eyed Junco (7)
BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES: Red-winged Blackbird (30)
FINCHES, WEAVER FINCH: Purple Finch (4), House Finch (6), American Goldfinch (26)