January is over, and I have not birded quite so much in January in
a long time. No long trips, but lots of Prince Edward County back
roads....
Waterbirds – geese, ducks, swans, loons, and grebes – have been the big story so far this year, for me locally as well as across the state and region. There seems to be a strong correlation between the cold weather to our north and northwest, and perhaps more specifically to the ice cover on the Great Lakes, and the appearance of these birds in our area.
The appearance of scoters and Red-necked
Grebes makes me think this way, and I wonder whether the Mute Swans I
saw yesterday are also from the Great Lakes area.
Some stats: I finished January with 94 species in the county. Of these, nine were single sightings of single individuals, but only one of those, Red-necked Grebe, is a bird I can't expect to see again in the county this year (or decade – the last one I saw there was in 2003). All the others are either owls – which required night birding – or birds that are rare in winter but should be much more common as migrants or breeders (e.g. Bonaparte's Gull, Fish Crow, Gray Catbird, House Wren and others).
I also saw five species that I only found once, but which were represented by multiple (two or more) individuals. Of these, Purple Finch (a group of five) is a bit of a surprise, but only in comparison to other winters. Normally they are around; this winter they are (mostly) not. Mute Swan and Red-throated Loon, represented by two individuals each, were both surprises and cannot be counted on again this year (or any year) in the county. Wilson's Snipe (also two) is more common as a migrant; I got lucky and saw a couple by the side of the road, but I count on seeing more in spring. Rusty Blackbirds (a flock of 32) are usually present in the county in the winter, but are a bit tricky to find some winters. That combined with their ongoing population crash (read more here) always makes me glad to see them.
One of the 94 species, White-winged Scoter, had not previously been documented in the county, but in the past month has gone from being unknown here to being the scoter with the most reports in the county. This reflects an ongoing event in Virginia and adjacent states where dozens of White-winged Scoters have been appearing – up to 50 or more on the Ohio River at Louisville (I saw only one there while living and birding in Louisville for over eight years). And another species, Red-throated Loon, might or might not have been seen here before, but had not been definitely documented (anyone who knows otherwise – please send me details!).
What's next? As always, that largely depends on the weather. I still need a few resident birds for the year list (Red-headed Woodpecker, Great Horned Owl), but I am not stressed about finding them. A few more rare waterbirds would be nice. A rare owl would, too. But so would warm weather! I'm tired of birding with cold, aching fingers....
Waterbirds – geese, ducks, swans, loons, and grebes – have been the big story so far this year, for me locally as well as across the state and region. There seems to be a strong correlation between the cold weather to our north and northwest, and perhaps more specifically to the ice cover on the Great Lakes, and the appearance of these birds in our area.
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| Mute Swans and ducks at Sandy River Reservoir, 31 Jan 2014 cell phone digiscope |
Some stats: I finished January with 94 species in the county. Of these, nine were single sightings of single individuals, but only one of those, Red-necked Grebe, is a bird I can't expect to see again in the county this year (or decade – the last one I saw there was in 2003). All the others are either owls – which required night birding – or birds that are rare in winter but should be much more common as migrants or breeders (e.g. Bonaparte's Gull, Fish Crow, Gray Catbird, House Wren and others).
I also saw five species that I only found once, but which were represented by multiple (two or more) individuals. Of these, Purple Finch (a group of five) is a bit of a surprise, but only in comparison to other winters. Normally they are around; this winter they are (mostly) not. Mute Swan and Red-throated Loon, represented by two individuals each, were both surprises and cannot be counted on again this year (or any year) in the county. Wilson's Snipe (also two) is more common as a migrant; I got lucky and saw a couple by the side of the road, but I count on seeing more in spring. Rusty Blackbirds (a flock of 32) are usually present in the county in the winter, but are a bit tricky to find some winters. That combined with their ongoing population crash (read more here) always makes me glad to see them.
One of the 94 species, White-winged Scoter, had not previously been documented in the county, but in the past month has gone from being unknown here to being the scoter with the most reports in the county. This reflects an ongoing event in Virginia and adjacent states where dozens of White-winged Scoters have been appearing – up to 50 or more on the Ohio River at Louisville (I saw only one there while living and birding in Louisville for over eight years). And another species, Red-throated Loon, might or might not have been seen here before, but had not been definitely documented (anyone who knows otherwise – please send me details!).
What's next? As always, that largely depends on the weather. I still need a few resident birds for the year list (Red-headed Woodpecker, Great Horned Owl), but I am not stressed about finding them. A few more rare waterbirds would be nice. A rare owl would, too. But so would warm weather! I'm tired of birding with cold, aching fingers....
I realized today that there was another species in the "seen once, multiple individuals" category I wrote about in this post -- Red-winged Blackbird. I saw two cold-looking males in January, my only sighting of the year so far in the county.
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