Friday, December 31, 2010

End of Year Reflections

I always enjoy settling down on the last day of the year to recollect and reflect on the experiences of the last year. This last year has been a huge birding year for me (not a "big year" but nevertheless big!) and it is a particular pleasure to recall the highs and lows during the last rotation round the sun. 


As far back as I can remember I have been passionate about the natural world, almost to the exclusion of anything else at times. As a young child I would reread my grandparents "book of british birds" every time I visited them. I read and dreamed about the wildlife out there for me to see, and I grew up exploring the natural history of the gorgeous Forest of Dean. In spite of this early grounding in observing natural history, followed by a degree in Zoology and Biochemistry, and a PhD in Computation Biology, to my horror last year I discovered I was at best an OK naturalist. I'd become lazy, complacent, and over the years I had not continued to develop my skills. It's natural enough, life happens and distractions can easily cause you to lose your focus, but as a result I was missing out on some of things I value most in life. Things needed to change, and change they did! A number of key things came together to make this year such a stellar one with regard to my development as a naturalist, and observer of avifauna in particular:

  1. I was in a country where for the first time in my life I wasn't intimately familiar with the vast majority of the birds and wildlife surrounding me. This was enough to kick me out of my complacency and decide I needed to make the effort to get out, observe and learn about my new surroundings. 
  2. I had the good fortune to meet Bruce Cohen, who became both a good friend and a spectacular mentor at a local Audubon meeting. Finding someone who is as OCD as me when they get excited about a project is rare, finding someone who also happens to be extremely expert on North American birds ... Priceless. If you are a frustrated birder wanting to improve your skills I can't recommend spending time with more experienced birders enough. In terms of the speed with which your competence will develop, I would liken it to being fired out of a cannon.
  3. I started listing. For those not in the know, this is essentially a kind of game birders often play for shits and giggles. You simply keep track of the birds you've seen. Most listers will keep a list of birds they've seen in their life, many will also keep track of their totals for the year, for their yard, for their favourite patch, for certain countries, states or counties. Some people get more competitive and spice it up with (for the most part) friendly rivalries. The key thing, for me, is that it focuses your birdwatching, if I wanted to increase my lists I had to think about when and where I would see birds, in short I had to get to know them better. It also provided encouragement to take some mini-adventures and chase some sightings of rarer birds.
These three elements really came together in the fall of last year. By the time New Year's Eve came around I was firmly back in the grip of on old passion and eager to hit the new year birding. By this time I had a good idea of what my first goals needed to be:
  1. I wanted to see as many of the native birds found in Michigan as possible. Actually, I wanted to know them intimately, but that takes time, and simply observing them seemed like the obvious first step. 
  2. In order to do this I'd need to:
    1. Recognise the birds visually
    2. Learn their songs and calls
    3. Become familiar with their behaviour and migratory patterns
  3. I specifically wanted to find and observe owls; a bird that had always fascinated me but for the most part had always eluded me in the past. There are at least 10 species of owl that are frequently seen in Michigan, at least at some point during the year, some of which are relatively common, even if not commonly spotted. 
  4. Also, somewhat arbitrarily, I decided I wanted to try and see a new bird species for every day of the year. 365 species for a year list, is not an unreasonable goal for a year, and it would give me some impetus to explore outside of Michigan from time to time.

When I started the year my life list was a measly 113. It excluded many birds I had seen previously, my rule was that if I didn't have photographic evidence of old sightings. That way I didn't have to worry about inaccuracies in my memory, or my ID skills in the past. I got my first life bird of the year on the 1st Jan, a Carolina wren, closely followed later in the day with my first horned lark.


Carolina Wren

Horned Larks


The year got off to a flying start, and looking back it is hard to believe all of the incredible experiences that have resulted can all have taken place in the last year. January 2nd, I made the excellent decision to travel to Douglas Beach, on Lake Michigan, to participate in the Allegan County Christmas Bird Count. It was a great way to renew acquaintances with some fantastic birders such as Rick Brigham and Mike Overway, as well as a gorgeous day of birding in thick falling Lake-effect snow. I decided to finally cave and buy a car in January, something I had resisted for the first 2 years of living in Michigan; it was the best decision I could have made. My Jeep Grand Cherokee and I were a match made in heaven, and weekend birding roadtrips were ON.


Strokey the Cherokee
The very first weekend after I bought my new wheels I walked out of work on the Friday, jumped in my car and headed north to look for Snowy Owls. Over the course of the year I saw many birds that I had desperately wanted to see all my life, in particular I finally saw: Golden Eagle, Snowy Owl, Osprey, Common Loon, Horned and Eared Grebe, all birds I had read about from childhood but never before seen.



Osprey

Snowy Owl
I had great success with owls over the course of the year. January gave me a boost of encouragement with my first Northern Hawk Owl and Snowy Owl.


Northern Hawk Owl
A roadtrip to Minnesota in Feb, to look for Great Gray Owls with the infamous @birdchick in the Sax-zim bog, was heaps of fun even though we dipped on the Great Grey Owl. Still a day which includes Boreal Chickadees, Bohemian Waxwings, Northern Hawk Owls, Grey Jays, Ruffed Grouse, Black-backed Woodpeckers and even my first Porcupine sighting is never a bad day. Hell, I might even write up a blog post and share some pics some time, it's not even been a year yet!


As the year rolled on, with a little patience and persistence, I was able to find and locate the more common, but inconveniently nocturnal, Barred Owl, and Great Horned Owl, in my local birding haunts.


Great Horned Owl
Great Horned Owl (chick)
After that I had to work a little harder to find the remaining owls I was looking for. Autumn provided my first views of Short-eared owls flying low of fields at dusk (thanks to the Northern Harrier that buzzed one hiding in the grass). Later, in November, I took my girlfriend to look for a Saw-whet owl that had been spotted down near Ann Arbor. Needless to say, having no experience birding whatsoever, she not only spotted the Saw-whet owl first, but also managed to find an unexpected Great Horned Owl! So much for my birding skills. 


Saw-Whet Owl
Six owl species during the year was fantastic, but one bird was vexing me. The Eastern Screech Owl is easily the most common owl in Michigan, there is probably one in every patch of wood I've walked through this year. Yet, in spite of hearing it call many times, I was never able to set eyes on one, no matter how hard I tried. As December neared to a close this situation was too ridiculous to continue and inspired by stumbling upon a Barred Owl earlier in the day, I headed out at dusk to look for one. Success was swift, and sweet, this tiny little owl responded quickly to my calls and flew to a nearby tree close enough for me to observe him closely. Perfect!


In May, I was invited by Mike Overway, to join him, his brother Jer Overway and Steve Hamberg, for the Berrien County Birdathon. This is a 24hr birding competition where teams compete to see as many species of bird as possible, within the county boundaries. It was a real privilege to join these talented birders, especially given my relative inexperience. Mike and Jer being tall, Steve being a Dr and myself being a Brit, our team was called "Two Stilts, a quack and a GNDI". We ended up recording 154 species during the course of a day, finishing a respectable 3rd place overall, and 2nd place for out-of-county teams. While scouting out for the big day and during the event itself, I saw an incredible 36 birds I'd never before seen (known as life-birds), highlighting both my inexperience, the generosity of my team members in sharing their experience and the rich diversity of birds found in Berrien County. All in all, an incredible experience I would do again in a heartbeat. 


As I become more connected with the local birding community I started to realised just how many rare birds and vagrants are spotted every year. Over the course of the year I was able to chase a few of these rarities, and I had a lot of fun doing so. Driving 6 or 7 hours at the arse-crack of dawn to freeze at the end of a Great Lake scanning the horizon for a rare vagrant, or sitting for hours on end in a humid swamp while mosquitos eat you alive, is not everybody's cup of tea, but the thrill of the chase, the challenge really appealed to me. I saw some fantastic wild areas and met some incredible birders along the way, not to mention the birds themselves. Some of the birds I chased I've already mentioned: Northern Hawk Owl, Snowy Owl, Saw-Whet Owl, Short-Eared Owl. Some birds I didn't find: a one-legged Piping Plover and an Ash-throated flycatcher. Some birds were spectacular, and the  Purple Gallinule and Yellow-headed Blackbird spring to mind.


Purple Gallinule
Others fun trips included a Long-billed Dowitcher, Common-ground Dove and most incredibly an Anna's Hummingbird, in the Northern UP, after a blizzard!


Anna's Hummingbird (Nov - Grand Marais, MI)
My efforts during the year yielded many side benefits. I've seen some cold, barren and stunningly beautiful landscapes.


Whitefish Point, MI, Feb 2010
Parasitic Jaeger, Whitefish point, MI, Sep 2010
Mackinaw Straits, MI, Feb 2010
Rudyard Flats, MI, Feb 2010
I've seen Majestic birds.
Bald Eagle


Impressive birds.
Sandhill Cranes
Big, fat noisy birds. 
Wild Turkey


Beautiful birds.
Baltimore Oriole
Cedar Waxwing
In short, it's been incredible, and I can't wait to start a new year a fresh. This year I get to refine my skills and start to "really" get to know the wildlife surrounding me, and that is exciting. Will I recall the warbler and sparrow songs and calls before the spring migration? Perhaps this year I'll achieve better mastery of the more tricky ID problems: shorebirds, gulls for example. I have a good idea where to go to find many of the birds, but there are still large swathes of Michigan, and the United States, left to explore, I don't anticipate getting bored any time soon.


I saw 304 species of bird seen over the course of the year, of which 213 were life birds. 249 of these birds were found within the ABA area (essentially North America). For those of you who have any interest at all, here is my year list, complete with the date of the first sighting for each bird. Birds coloured red were life birds for me, you can see that once the spring migration hit, almost every bird was a life bird for me. Happy New Year!


1 White-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta carolinensis 01/01/10
2 Dark-eyed Junco - Junco hyemalis 01/01/10
3 Red-bellied Woodpecker - Melanerpes carolinus 01/01/10
4 Downy Woodpecker - Picoides pubescens 01/01/10
5 American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos 01/01/10
6 American Goldfinch - Spinus tristis 01/01/10
7 Tufted Titmouse - Baeolophus bicolor 01/01/10
8 Black-capped Chickadee - Poecile atricapillus 01/01/10
9 Carolina Wren - Thryothorus ludovicianus 01/01/10
10 Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura 01/01/10
11 Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis 01/01/10
12 Northern Flicker - Colaptes auratus 01/01/10
13 Horned Lark - Eremophila alpestris 01/01/10
14 Rock Pigeon - Columba livia 01/01/10
15 Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis 01/01/10
16 Cooper's Hawk - Accipiter cooperii 01/01/10
17 House Sparrow - Passer domesticus 01/01/10
18 American Tree Sparrow - Spizella arborea 01/01/10
19 Canada Goose - Branta canadensis 01/01/10
20 European Starling - Sturnus vulgaris 01/01/10
21 Mute Swan - Cygnus olor 01/02/10
22 Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos 01/02/10
23 House Finch - Carpodacus mexicanus 01/02/10
24 Herring Gull - Larus argentatus 01/02/10
25 Hairy Woodpecker - Picoides villosus 01/02/10
26 Gadwall - Anas strepera 01/02/10
27 Bufflehead - Bucephala albeola 01/02/10
28 Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata 01/02/10
29 Belted Kingfisher - Megaceryle alcyon 01/02/10
30 Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus leucocephalus 01/02/10
31 American Black Duck - Anas rubripes 01/02/10
32 American Coot - Fulica americana 01/02/10
33 Ring-billed Gull - Larus delawarensis 01/02/10
34 Red-breasted Merganser - Mergus serrator 01/02/10
35 Pied-billed Grebe - Podilymbus podiceps 01/02/10
36 Eastern Bluebird - Sialia sialis 01/03/10
37 Common Goldeneye - Bucephala clangula 01/23/10
38 Common Raven - Corvus corax 01/23/10
39 Wild Turkey - Meleagris gallopavo 01/23/10
40 Common Merganser - Mergus merganser 01/23/10
41 Northern Hawk Owl - Surnia ulula 01/23/10
42 Snow Bunting - Plectrophenax nivalis 01/24/10
43 Rough-legged Hawk - Buteo lagopus 01/24/10
44 Snowy Owl - Bubo scandiacus 01/30/10
45 Golden Eagle - Aquila chrysaetos 01/30/10
46 Pine Grosbeak - Pinicola enucleator 01/31/10
47 Great Horned Owl - Bubo virginianus 02/06/10
48 Northern Mockingbird - Mimus polyglottos 02/06/10
49 Sharp-shinned Hawk - Accipiter striatus 02/07/10
50 American Robin - Turdus migratorius 02/08/10
51 Cedar Waxwing - Bombycilla cedrorum 02/08/10
52 American Kestrel - Falco sparverius 02/08/10
53 Lapland Longspur - Calcarius lapponicus 02/12/10
54 Brown Creeper - Certhia americana 02/20/10
55 Merlin - Falco columbarius 02/27/10
56 Great Black-backed Gull - Larus marinus 02/27/10
57 Fish Crow - Corvus ossifragus 02/27/10
58 Eastern Towhee - Pipilo erythrophthalmus 02/27/10
59 Double-crested Cormorant - Phalacrocorax auritus 02/27/10
60 Common Grackle - Quiscalus quiscula 02/27/10
61 Brown-headed Cowbird - Molothrus ater 02/27/10
62 Black-crowned Night-Heron - Nycticorax nycticorax 02/27/10
63 American Wigeon - Anas americana 02/27/10
64 White-throated Sparrow - Zonotrichia albicollis 02/27/10
65 Yellow-rumped Warbler - Dendroica coronata 02/27/10
66 Swamp Sparrow - Melospiza georgiana 02/27/10
67 Ring-necked Duck - Aythya collaris 02/27/10
68 Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus 02/27/10
69 Carolina Chickadee - Poecile carolinensis 02/28/10
70 Ruby-crowned Kinglet - Regulus calendula 02/28/10
71 Pileated Woodpecker - Dryocopus pileatus 02/28/10
72 Peregrine Falcon - Falco peregrinus 02/28/10
73 Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias 02/28/10
74 Sandhill Crane - Grus canadensis 03/06/10
75 Northern Harrier - Circus cyaneus 03/06/10
76 Red-shouldered Hawk - Buteo lineatus 03/06/10
77 Canvasback - Aythya valisineria 03/07/10
78 Redhead - Aythya americana 03/07/10
79 Hooded Merganser - Lophodytes cucullatus 03/07/10
80 Killdeer - Charadrius vociferus 03/07/10
81 Turkey Vulture - Cathartes aura 03/11/10
82 Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia 03/13/10
83 Greater Scaup - Aythya marila 03/13/10
84 Gray Jay - Perisoreus canadensis 03/14/10
85 Boreal Chickadee - Poecile hudsonicus 03/14/10
86 Black-backed Woodpecker - Picoides arcticus 03/14/10
87 Bohemian Waxwing - Bombycilla garrulus 03/14/10
88 Ruffed Grouse - Bonasa umbellus 03/14/10
89 Red-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta canadensis 03/14/10
90 Pine Siskin - Spinus pinus 03/14/10
91 Northern Shrike - Lanius excubitor 03/21/10
92 Green-winged Teal - Anas crecca 03/21/10
93 Northern Pintail - Anas acuta 03/21/10
94 Tundra Swan - Cygnus columbianus 03/21/10
95 Northern Shoveler - Anas clypeata 03/21/10
96 Eastern Meadowlark - Sturnella magna 03/21/10
97 Lesser Scaup - Aythya affinis 03/21/10
98 Rusty Blackbird - Euphagus carolinus 03/22/10
99 Wood Duck - Aix sponsa 03/22/10
100 Eastern Phoebe - Sayornis phoebe 03/26/10
101 Tree Swallow - Tachycineta bicolor 03/26/10
102 Barred Owl - Strix varia 03/28/10
103 Osprey - Pandion haliaetus 03/31/10
104 Blue-winged Teal - Anas discors 03/31/10
105 Hermit Thrush - Catharus guttatus 04/01/10
106 Wilson's Snipe - Gallinago delicata 04/02/10
107 Lesser Yellowlegs - Tringa flavipes 04/02/10
108 Greater Yellowlegs - Tringa melanoleuca 04/02/10
109 Fox Sparrow - Passerella iliaca 04/04/10
110 Golden-crowned Kinglet - Regulus satrapa 04/04/10
111 Chipping Sparrow - Spizella passerina 04/07/10
112 Winter Wren - Troglodytes troglodytes 04/10/10
113 Common Loon - Gavia immer 04/10/10
114 Horned Grebe - Podiceps auritus 04/10/10
115 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - Sphyrapicus varius 04/11/10
116 Northern Rough-winged Swallow - Stelgidopteryx serripennis 04/13/10
117 Brown Thrasher - Toxostoma rufum 04/14/10
118 Field Sparrow - Spizella pusilla 04/14/10
119 Savannah Sparrow - Passerculus sandwichensis 04/20/10
120 Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica 04/21/10
121 Trumpeter Swan - Cygnus buccinator 04/21/10
122 Black Scoter - Melanitta nigra 04/21/10
123 Ruddy Duck - Oxyura jamaicensis 04/21/10
124 Vesper Sparrow - Pooecetes gramineus 04/23/10
125 Brewer's Blackbird - Euphagus cyanocephalus 04/24/10
126 American Woodcock - Scolopax minor 04/26/10
127 Eastern Kingbird - Tyrannus tyrannus 04/27/10
128 Pectoral Sandpiper - Calidris melanotos 04/29/10
129 Dunlin - Calidris alpina 04/29/10
130 Broad-winged Hawk - Buteo platypterus 04/30/10
131 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - Polioptila caerulea 04/30/10
132 Yellow Warbler - Dendroica petechia 04/30/10
133 Pine Warbler - Dendroica pinus 04/30/10
134 Cliff Swallow - Petrochelidon pyrrhonota 05/01/10
135 Willet - Tringa semipalmata 05/01/10
136 Bank Swallow - Riparia riparia 05/01/10
137 White-crowned Sparrow - Zonotrichia leucophrys 05/01/10
138 Spotted Sandpiper - Actitis macularius 05/01/10
139 Eared Grebe - Podiceps nigricollis 05/01/10
140 Bonaparte's Gull - Chroicocephalus philadelphia 05/01/10
141 House Wren - Troglodytes aedon 05/01/10
142 Greater White-fronted Goose - Anser albifrons 05/01/10
143 Gray Catbird - Dumetella carolinensis 05/01/10
144 Wilson's Phalarope - Phalaropus tricolor 05/01/10
145 Rose-breasted Grosbeak - Pheucticus ludovicianus 05/01/10
146 Chimney Swift - Chaetura pelagica 05/02/10
147 Baltimore Oriole - Icterus galbula 05/02/10
148 Warbling Vireo - Vireo gilvus 05/03/10
149 Ruby-throated Hummingbird - Archilochus colubris 05/03/10
150 Nashville Warbler - Vermivora ruficapilla 05/03/10
151 Black-throated Green Warbler - Dendroica virens 05/03/10
152 Common Yellowthroat - Geothlypis trichas 05/03/10
153 Louisiana Waterthrush - Seiurus motacilla 05/04/10
154 Scarlet Tanager - Piranga olivacea 05/04/10
155 Least Flycatcher - Empidonax minimus 05/05/10
156 Blue-winged Warbler - Vermivora pinus 05/06/10
157 Chestnut-sided Warbler - Dendroica pensylvanica 05/06/10
158 Wood Thrush - Hylocichla mustelina 05/06/10
159 American Redstart - Setophaga ruticilla 05/06/10
160 Purple Martin - Progne subis 05/08/10
161 Bobolink - Dolichonyx oryzivorus 05/08/10
162 Green Heron - Butorides virescens 05/08/10
163 Solitary Sandpiper - Tringa solitaria 05/08/10
164 Palm Warbler - Dendroica palmarum 05/08/10
165 Orchard Oriole - Icterus spurius 05/08/10
166 Magnolia Warbler - Dendroica magnolia 05/08/10
167 Black-and-white Warbler - Mniotilta varia 05/08/10
168 Lincoln's Sparrow - Melospiza lincolnii 05/08/10
169 Indigo Bunting - Passerina cyanea 05/08/10
170 Yellow-headed Blackbird - Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus 05/08/10
171 Great Egret - Ardea alba 05/08/10
172 Yellow-billed Cuckoo - Coccyzus americanus 05/09/10
173 Blackburnian Warbler - Dendroica fusca 05/09/10
174 Hooded Warbler - Wilsonia citrina 05/09/10
175 Cerulean Warbler - Dendroica cerulea 05/09/10
176 Great Crested Flycatcher - Myiarchus crinitus 05/09/10
177 American Pipit - Anthus rubescens 05/15/10
178 Black-bellied Plover - Pluvialis squatarola 05/15/10
179 Black Tern - Chlidonias niger 05/15/10
180 Blue-headed Vireo - Vireo solitarius 05/15/10
181 Caspian Tern - Hydroprogne caspia 05/15/10
182 Eastern Wood-Pewee - Contopus virens 05/15/10
183 Eurasian Collared-Dove - Streptopelia decaocto 05/15/10
184 Forster's Tern - Sterna forsteri 05/15/10
185 Golden-winged Warbler - Vermivora chrysoptera 05/15/10
186 Gray-cheeked Thrush - Catharus minimus 05/15/10
187 Least Sandpiper - Calidris minutilla 05/15/10
188 Northern Parula - Parula americana 05/15/10
189 Orange-crowned Warbler - Vermivora celata 05/15/10
190 Prairie Warbler - Dendroica discolor 05/15/10
191 Red-eyed Vireo - Vireo olivaceus 05/15/10
192 Red-headed Woodpecker - Melanerpes erythrocephalus 05/15/10
193 Ring-necked Pheasant - Phasianus colchicus 05/15/10
194 Ruddy Turnstone - Arenaria interpres 05/15/10
195 Sanderling - Calidris alba 05/15/10
196 Semipalmated Plover - Charadrius semipalmatus 05/15/10
197 Sora - Porzana carolina 05/15/10
198 Swainson's Thrush - Catharus ustulatus 05/15/10
199 Veery - Catharus fuscescens 05/15/10
200 Yellow-throated Vireo - Vireo flavifrons 05/15/10
201 Virginia Rail - Rallus limicola 05/18/10
202 White-eyed Vireo - Vireo griseus 05/18/10
203 Alder Flycatcher - Empidonax alnorum 05/20/10
204 Ovenbird - Seiurus aurocapilla 05/20/10
205 Mourning Warbler - Oporornis philadelphia 05/22/10
206 Kirtland's Warbler - Dendroica kirtlandii 05/22/10
207 Common Tern - Sterna hirundo 05/22/10
208 Common Nighthawk - Chordeiles minor 05/22/10
209 Black-billed Cuckoo - Coccyzus erythropthalmus 05/22/10
210 Least Bittern - Ixobrychus exilis 05/22/10
211 Whimbrel - Numenius phaeopus 05/22/10
212 Tennessee Warbler - Vermivora peregrina 05/22/10
213 Purple Gallinule - Porphyrio martinica 05/22/10
214 Clay-colored Sparrow - Spizella pallida 05/24/10
215 Willow Flycatcher - Empidonax traillii 05/24/10
216 Acadian Flycatcher - Empidonax virescens 05/25/10
217 Long-billed Dowitcher - Limnodromus scolopaceus 07/17/10
218 Semipalmated Sandpiper - Calidris pusilla 07/17/10
219 Whip-poor-will - Caprimulgus vociferus 07/17/10
220 Short-billed Dowitcher - Limnodromus griseus 08/14/10
221 White-rumped Sandpiper - Calidris fuscicollis 08/14/10
222 Hudsonian Godwit - Limosa haemastica 08/14/10
223 Snowy Egret - Egretta thula 08/14/10
224 Marsh Wren - Cistothorus palustris 08/14/10
225 Marbled Godwit - Limosa fedoa 08/14/10
226 Common Moorhen - Gallinula chloropus 08/14/10
227 Stilt Sandpiper - Calidris himantopus 08/14/10
228 Baird's Sandpiper - Calidris bairdii 08/14/10
229 Eurasian Coot - Fulica atra 08/27/10
230 Eurasian Blackbird - Turdus merula 08/27/10
231 Common Wood-Pigeon - Columba palumbus 08/27/10
232 Common Swift - Apus apus 08/27/10
233 Common Chaffinch - Fringilla coelebs 08/27/10
234 Common House-Martin - Delichon urbicum 08/27/10
235 Eurasian Blue Tit - Cyanistes caeruleus 08/27/10
236 Black-headed Gull - Chroicocephalus ridibundus 08/27/10
237 Spotted Flycatcher - Muscicapa striata 08/27/10
238 Hooded Crow - Corvus cornix 08/27/10
239 Great Crested Grebe - Podiceps cristatus 08/27/10
240 Eurasian Nuthatch - Sitta europaea 08/27/10
241 Eurasian Magpie - Pica pica 08/27/10
242 European Greenfinch - Chloris chloris 08/27/10
243 Northern Goshawk - Accipiter gentilis 08/28/10
244 European Goldfinch - Carduelis carduelis 08/28/10
245 Great Cormorant - Phalacrocorax carbo 08/28/10
246 Common Buzzard - Buteo buteo 08/28/10
247 Eurasian Kestrel - Falco tinnunculus 08/28/10
248 Willow Warbler - Phylloscopus trochilus 08/28/10
249 Long-tailed Tit - Aegithalos caudatus 08/30/10
250 Great Tit - Parus major 08/30/10
251 Black Redstart - Phoenicurus ochruros 08/30/10
252 Eurasian Jay - Garrulus glandarius 08/30/10
253 Common Redstart - Phoenicurus phoenicurus 08/31/10
254 European Robin - Erithacus rubecula 08/31/10
255 European Pied Flycatcher - Ficedula hypoleuca 08/31/10
256 Carrion Crow - Corvus corone 08/31/10
257 White Wagtail - Motacilla alba 08/31/10
258 Gray Heron - Ardea cinerea 08/31/10
259 Common Chiffchaff - Phylloscopus collybita 08/31/10
260 Marsh Tit - Poecile palustris 08/31/10
261 Barnacle Goose - Branta leucopsis 09/03/10
262 Tufted Duck - Aythya fuligula 09/03/10
263 Red-crested Pochard - Netta rufina 09/03/10
264 Little Grebe - Tachybaptus ruficollis 09/03/10
265 Graylag Goose - Anser anser 09/03/10
266 Eurasian Treecreeper - Certhia familiaris 09/03/10
267 Common Pochard - Aythya ferina 09/03/10
268 Dunnock - Prunella modularis 09/06/10
269 Coal Tit - Periparus ater 09/06/10
270 Eurasian Jackdaw - Corvus monedula 09/10/10
271 Sky Lark - Alauda arvensis 09/11/10
272 Red Kite - Milvus milvus 09/12/10
273 Green Woodpecker - Picus viridis 09/12/10
274 Mew Gull - Larus canus 09/13/10
275 Lesser White-fronted Goose - Anser erythropus 09/13/10
276 Lesser Black-backed Gull - Larus fuscus 09/13/10
277 Eurasian Wigeon - Anas penelope 09/13/10
278 Eurasian Sparrowhawk - Accipiter nisus 09/13/10
279 Common Snipe - Gallinago gallinago 09/13/10
280 Rook - Corvus frugilegus 09/13/10
281 Black-tailed Godwit - Limosa limosa 09/13/10
282 Common Eider - Somateria mollissima 09/13/10
283 Common Shelduck - Tadorna tadorna 09/13/10
284 Wilson's Warbler - Wilsonia pusilla 09/17/10
285 Bay-breasted Warbler - Dendroica castanea 09/17/10
286 Red-necked Grebe - Podiceps grisegena 09/25/10
287 Parasitic Jaeger - Stercorarius parasiticus 09/25/10
288 Blackpoll Warbler - Dendroica striata 10/16/10
289 Cackling Goose - Branta hutchinsii 10/21/10
290 Snow Goose - Chen caerulescens 10/21/10
291 Purple Sandpiper - Calidris maritima 10/25/10
292 Purple Finch - Carpodacus purpureus 10/25/10
293 Short-eared Owl - Asio flammeus 10/25/10
294 Red-throated Loon - Gavia stellata 11/01/10
295 Ross's Goose - Chen rossii 11/08/10
296 Northern Saw-whet Owl - Aegolius acadicus 11/13/10
297 Whooping Crane - Grus americana 11/13/10
298 Franklin's Gull - Leucophaeus pipixcan 11/14/10
299 Common Ground-Dove - Columbina passerina 11/14/10
300 Long-tailed Duck - Clangula hyemalis 11/14/10
301 Surf Scoter - Melanitta perspicillata 11/16/10
302 Anna's Hummingbird - Calypte anna 11/20/10
303 Glaucous Gull - Larus hyperboreus 11/20/10
304 Eastern Screech-Owl - Megascops asio 12/27/10