Month: April 2018

The 100 Species Mark

This year I have passed the 100 species mark yesterday (April 13th), which is one day ahead of last year’s time.

Here are the species (I am now at 103):

  1. House Sparrow
  2. House Finch
  3. Red-tailed Hawk
  4. Downy Woodpecker
  5. Blue Jay
  6. European Starling
  7. American Tree Sparrow
  8. American Goldfinch
  9. Cooper’s Hawk
  10. Horned Lark
  11. Dark-eyed Junco
  12. Northern Cardinal
  13. Canada Goose
  14. Mute Swan
  15. Tundra Swan
  16. Mallard
  17. Canvasback
  18. Redhead
  19. Greater Scaup
  20. Bufflehead
  21. Common Goldeneye
  22. Hooded Merganser
  23. Common Merganser
  24. Red-breasted Merganser
  25. Bald Eagle
  26. Herring Gull
  27. Rock Pigeon
  28. Great Black-backed Gull
  29. Snow Goose
  30. Mourning Dove
  31. American Crow
  32. Lapland Longspur
  33. Snow Bunting
  34. Common Grackle
  35. White-crowned Sparrow
  36. Snowy Owl
  37. Red-bellied Woodpecker
  38. Black-capped Chickadee
  39. White-breasted Nuthatch
  40. Song Sparrow
  41. Eastern Towhee
  42. Brown-headed Cowbird
  43. Pine Siskin
  44. Wild Turkey
  45. Belted Kingfisher
  46. Tufted Titmouse
  47. Brown Creeper
  48. Cedar Waxwing
  49. White-throated Sparrow
  50. Ring-billed Gull
  51. Wood Duck
  52. American Black Duck
  53. Great Blue Heron
  54. American Kestrel
  55. Hairy Woodpecker
  56. American Robin
  57. Fox Sparrow
  58. Northern Flicker
  59. Gadwall
  60. American Wigeon
  61. Northern Pintail
  62. Trumpeter Swan
  63. Lesser Scaup
  64. Ring-necked Duck
  65. Eastern Bluebird
  66. Northern Harrier
  67. Peregrine Falcon
  68. Pied-billed Grebe
  69. Greater White-fronted Goose
  70. Carolina Wren
  71. Great Horned Owl
  72. Merlin
  73. Townsend’s Solitaire
  74. Red-winged Blackbird
  75. Rough-legged Hawk
  76. Killdeer
  77. Ross’s Goose
  78. Northern Shoveler
  79. American Coot
  80. Green-winged Teal
  81. Sharp-shinned Hawk
  82. American Woodcock
  83. Turkey Vulture
  84. King Eider
  85. Surf Scoter
  86. White-winged Scoter
  87. Great Egret
  88. Rusty Blackbird
  89. Eastern Meadowlark
  90. Bonaparte’s Gull
  91. Ruddy Duck
  92. Blue-winged Teal
  93. Horned Grebe
  94. Double-crested Cormorant
  95. Eastern Phoebe
  96. Golden-crowned Kinglet
  97. Common Loon
  98. Forster’s Tern
  99. Tree Swallow
  100. Hermit Thrush
  101. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
  102. Yellow-rumped Warbler
  103. Savannah Sparrow
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March Report

I saw 71 bird species in March. My current year tally is 91 species, a bit short of my goal of reaching 100 by the end of March. That said, I’m 8 species ahead of where I was last year at this time.

On March 3, I dropped by Hillman Marsh and Point Pelee with my son and was able to add Green-winged Teal and Sharp-shinned hawk to my year list. On March 7, a night drive through the vicinity of Harrow after helping a friend move allowed me to hear and very briefly see an American Woodcock.

A local birder’s gathering on March 15th which brought me to Point Pelee, Hillman Marsh, and Wheatley Harbour. On the trip there I saw my first Turkey Vultures of the year. I *might* have seen a Northern Shrike, the view was too fleeting to be sure, but it seems to have been very near to the location of a recent sighting.

At Point Pelee, I saw my only lifer of the month (White-winged scoter), a King Eider (!), and Surf Scoters. I still need to find a Black Scoter one of these days! At Hillman, I added Great Egret and Rusty Blackbird to my year list.

Then, on March 21st, I stopped by the CKWW towers and got a photo of an Eastern Meadowlark. What a treat!

To conclude March, on the 28th I found some Bonaparte’s Gulls and Ruddy Ducks.

With the advent of April, things should start getting exciting in the birding world (if they haven’t already gotten exciting toward the end of March!)

According to eBird, there are 37 birds which I haven’t seen yet this year and have more than a 5% frequency in Essex County in April. So, I guess I have my work cut out for me! (in case you are curious, the most frequently seen bird on that list is Tree Swallow and #37 is Pectoral Sandpiper)

I will continue looking for rather common birds that have thus far evaded me this year: Eastern Screech Owl, Double-Crested Cormorant, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Sandhill Crane, and Horned Grebe. I must say that I’m also looking forward to the return of the Swallows! I’m thinking I might have to give up on seeing a Cackling Goose until next winter.

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