Winter Catch-up Post & a Life Bird!

Monday 26 December 2016 53 °F

So...at last another busy semester has ended! It has been rewarding, though, with so many great musical opportunities through my choir, the Voice of Chicago. I did; though, manage to see a few birds in these first few weeks of winter.

Female RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER:

On one of my bird surveys I captured this nice photo of a CEDAR WAXWING:

December 8 turned out to be the big Sandhill Crane migration day for the fall, as thousands of these guys streamed overhead. It was quite impressive!

Today (Monday, December 26), my family and I took advantage of the warm temps and went to the Morton Arboretum to get outside. I had three target birds: Pileated Woodpecker, Barred Owl, and a Harris' Sparrow - which had recently been seen near the Visitor Center.

Although I failed to find all three of those species (bummer!), I did gain one LONG OVERDUE life bird - an AMERICAN BLACK DUCK (note slightly larger size & darker overall than surrounding Mallards)! Thanks to birder Pete M for birding with me (he was after the Harris' Sparrow, as well) and giving this ID:

So Bird-of-the-day definitely goes to the American Black Duck.

Stay tuned, because on Saturday, my family and I will fly down to the island of Providenciales, Turks and Caicos for a week in the Caribbean! I am looking forward to the warmer temps and hopefully more life birds!

Good birding,

Henry
World Life List: 927 Species (1 life bird today: American Black Duck)

Posted by skwclar 12:39 Archived in USA Tagged cedar_waxwing red_bellied_woodpecker sandhill_crane american_black_duck