Great Backyard Bird Count and Guided Bird Walk 2/18/12

The guided bird walk my dad and I led at Two Ponds NWR for the 2012 Great Backyard Bird Count went extremely well!  We had 23+ people show up and had a list of 19 total birds.  We birded from 7am-8:30am, with the bird walk going from 7:30-8:30.  The weather was cold but warmed up nicely and we had about 6-8 inches of snow on different parts of the trail.  The bird list has been submitted to the GBBC site.

Morning at the Refuge

My dad giving a short talk before the walk.

The sun rises on higher.

The weather started off at a homely 17 degrees F.  By the time the walk started the sun had risen to a point where it warmed us up a few degrees and was actually a nice day for birding.  

Two Northern Flickers. Two of 12 that we saw in total.  On the top is a Red-winged Blackbird. The Red-wings are already setting up and establishing territories in the Refuge.  We saw roughly 30 Red-wings.

A flock of Canada Geese flying over.

My group observing a Canada Goose flock. 

A shot across the Refuge at my dad's group. He lead his group along the first loop trail and I lead mine around the second loop trail.

A pair of paw prints from a raccoon.  

A male Red-winged Blackbird observing his territory.

A different male Red-winged a few yards away watching his territory.

The entrance trail.

We are hoping to do more guided walks like this at Two Ponds NWR throughout the year.  We saw 21 Common Mergansers on the walk as well, which is a new bird for the Two Ponds bird list.  

The bird list:

1. Canada Goose
2. Mallard
3. Common Merganser
4. Bald Eagle
5. American Kestrel
6. Rock Pigeon
7. Mourning Dove
8. Downy Woodpecker
9. Northern Flicker
10. Blue Jay
11. Black-billed Magpie
12. American Crow
13. Black-capped Chickadee
14. American Robin
15. European Starling
16. Dark-eyed Junco (heard)
17. Red-winged Blackbird
18. House Finch
19. American Goldfinch (heard)