State List Update

Upon reviewing my state list, I discovered that I have not seen a Canyon Wren  in Colorado previous to the ones I saw during the Roxborough State Park CBC last year.  So this brings my state list up to 251 birds! Looking forward to adding many more birds to that list this year!

BirdSpyBlog App

Special announcement! I have created a smartphone app for the BirdSpyBlog. I have not uploaded it yet to the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store, but I do have a QR barcode that smartphone users can scan, allowing them to download the app. This is is therefore exclusively available only to viewers of this blog!
The app allows for easier access for following the blog. Below is the picture with the barcode.
-Daniel-

Video Slideshow and 1000 Views!

First off I want to thank everyone who reads my blog, as we have just hit 1,000 blog views(not including my own)!  I have had BirdSpyBlog up for less than a year and I had hoped to have 1,000 page views within a year, so thank you all much! I hope you are enjoying the blog as much as I am!

Secondly, I completed a short video slideshow highlighting some of my favorite birding moments of 2012.  There were many, many, many great birding moments last year so I wasn't able to fit everyone of them in.  I have it up on YouTube on my channel, BirdSpyFilms.  Hope you enjoy and happy birding in 2013!

Link to the video:
BirdSpyFilms- In Review: Birding 2012

-Daniel-

Starting Off the New Year

Started off 2013 with...guess what...a Canada Goose.  Not quite the flashy first bird of the year like I had last year, when I was happily surprised to see a Brown Creeper to start off 2012.  But how else can you start off a new year list unless you first see a bird?  So far I am no where near close to my 234 birds of 2012, but I have not yet been able to get out to do any birding.   My list currently stands at 15 species for 2013.
Here is my 2013 list as it stands now:
Canada Goose
European Starling
Ring-billed Gull
House Finch
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
American Kestrel
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
House Sparrow
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker

My goals for 2013 are:
- See 200+ species this year
- Have a 100+ big day
- Keep this blog up to date and flowing with posts and photos!

Unlike last year, I am not going to keep month lists.  I did well on month lists up until July, when life got busy and I couldn't commit enough time to keeping up on my month lists.  So this year I am going to focus on enjoying the birds when I go out birding and keeping up my year list.

What are your 2013 birding goals?
-Daniel-

A Year in Review

2012 has been a great year for me.  For starters, I started this blog in February and have had a wonderful time blogging my adventures for you all! As of this writing, this blog has accumulated 917 views(not including my own)!  My year list ended at 234 species, well exceeding my goal of 200 birds on the year.  This included 14 life birds, my 300th life bird(a Glossy Ibis at Stearn's Lake) and my 250th state bird(Bronzed Cowbird at Chatfield State Park on the December 15th Christmas Bird Count).  I also had the opportunity to lead five bird walks at Two Ponds NWR, and I would like to thank Joyce Persson for giving my dad and I this wonderful opportunity and we look forward to leading many more bird walks at Two Ponds in 2013!  This year also included an almost 100 bird big day, with the second day of my dad's and my Big Birding Weekend ending with 98 birds seen, and the weekend itself accumulating 114 species including a Golden-winged Warbler at Red Lion SWA.  This years Barr Lake Bird Festival was great fun as it always is.  Getting a chance to bird out in California again was very exciting, and I was finally able to track down my life Elegant Tern at Channel Islands Harbor.  The Great Backyard Bird Count at Two Ponds NWR in February and the two Christmas Bird Counts this year were great fun and provided a chance to bird with some excellent local birders!  These are just a few of the many great birding adventures I had this year. I look forward to the birding adventures that next year will bring, and look forward to keeping this blog flowing with posts and photos! Have a Happy New Year everyone and see you all next year!
-Daniel-

2012 Christmas Bird Count #2

Another fun and wonderful CBC under the belt!  Went back to Roxborough State Park this time.  I had a lot of fun last year on this count so I was really looking forward to this years CBC.
We again met up at Safeway, with a few returning members from last year and some new members to the count.  The weather report called for a mid 30's temp, but the wind made it seem like it was going to make for another miserably fun count, much like last year.  Once we were all together and on the same page for the plans for the day, we were off to find and count some birds.
Wind, wind and, well, lots more wind made it miserable. Northern Harrier, Rough-legged Hawk, Wood Duck and a Song Sparrow made the cold bearable.  We saw a few other more common birds, and lots of snow.
We continued on to Roxborough, stopping first to scan some open water on the reservoir just outside the park.  Common Goldeneye, Redhead and Ring-necked Duck were nice finds on the water, and shortly up the road the first Northern Shrike of the CBC provided some nice, fairly close views.
Arriving in the park itself, we were pleasantly surprised to find that the wind had died down and the sun was shining nicely.  Though it was only about 30 degrees out, it felt balmy compared to the windy cold we had earlier.
We walked up to the visitor center and saw many Black-capped Chickadees and some Dark-eyed Juncos, Western Scrub Jay and one Spotted Towhee.  We headed out along the Willow Creek Trail. Shortly along the trail, we heard an odd call and started searching the rock face for the bird that made it.  A Canyon Wren hopped out, making a short appearance before disappearing back into the rock.  This was a nice bird to see, and the first of the CBC.  A large raptor appeared in the distance, and after some discussion and consulting of a book, identified it as a juvenile Bald Eagle.  Continuing along, we picked up some more chickadees and jays.  Two Red-tailed Hawks were soon discovered overhead, including a Kriders race Red-tailed Hawk.  We were able to enjoy some long, excellent views of this uncommon bird before they disappeared behind the ridges.  Golden Eagle, a pair of heard American Goldfinches and more jays concluded the walk along the trail.
Back at the nature center, I set up shop outside and took some pictures of the chickadees.  After a short lunch we headed back outside and headed out on the Fountain Valley Trail.  Chickadees and another junco greeted us, and soon another Northern Shrike made an appearance.  One of the three that we saw.  Heading further along the trail, a pair of American Tree Sparrows were found, with one landing feet away from us on the pathway to bathe in the snow.  While we were watching the sparrow, a falcon flew by.  We only got a short view, but my dad and I saw it well enough to identify it as a Peregrine Falcon. This was the first time this bird had been seen on this count.  The pictures I took of it turned out less than spectacular, but at least they show the bird to be a falcon.  The trail was very quiet bird wise for most of the next mile.  A pair of odd calls drew our attention to the rock face.  We scoured the rocks for the source for a few minutes before we finally spotted some movement.  A close look revealed the birds to be a pair Canyon Wrens foraging along the rocks.  We were able to get everyone to have a nice view of these birds before we started heading along the trail.  An American Kestrel suddenly swooped in and made a pass at the wrens, but got nothing.  The kestrel then perched on the top of the rock face for a minute before taking off again.  We proceeded back to the nature center with very little bird activity.
We saw a total of 31 different species of birds, a very productive CBC.  Thankfully the weather was much nicer in the park, unlike last year when the entire CBC day was miserable.

Wind and snow.

The only open water in our count area.

Northern Shrike. Awesome views of this bird.

At the feeder.

The Krider's race Red-tailed Hawk.

On the Willow Creek Trail.

Downy Woodpecker on the Fountain Valley Trail. If you look at the second picture you can see the nictating membrane that protects the woodpeckers eyes when it strikes the branch.

The falcon.

American Tree Sparrow providing for excellent views.

BirdSpyBlog Widget!

Created a widget for my blog! If you would like to follow my blog, or link/share my blog, feel free to grab the html code and post on your blog or site! It is free and easy to use and I will return the favor if you create a widget too.
Link to the widget:
BirdSpyBlog Widget

-Daniel-