I had no idea you could see so many migrating birds this soon, esp. considering the maddening cold spells we've been cursed with lately. We saw 30 species of birds at the hedge, beach, and harbor around 4pm.
The common noisy ones:
Robin, Grackle, Red-winged Blackbird, Cardinal, Black-capped Chickadee, European Starling
Shorebirds:
Mallards, Canada Geese, Ring-billed Gulls, DC Cormorants, Killdeer, Common Mergansers, and a Mute Swan.
Wooded Lovelies:
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Dark-eyed Junco, (First-ever!) Golden-crowned Kinglets flitting around catching insects, (First-ever!) Fox Sparrow.
The Fox Sparrows are migrating up to Northern Canada. I saw one "double scratching" the ground in a wooded area to unearth insect larvae - looked like a sweet little solo bird jig. And I used my new phone apps out in the field for the first time - iBird Pro makes it easy to ID birds & calls. It tells you fun facts about things like migration, monogamy, and "double scratching". I also learned that the Fox Sparrow performs a broken-wing display to lure threats away from the nest. And I uploaded my first Wildlife Sightings to the Project Noah site using their new Android app!
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