Uxbridge CBC-January 2nd

I did the last of the CBC's yesterday, this time with Fran and Alan and this time the Uxbridge count. We started off early on slippery roads as the snow started falling before dawn which meant many layers and cold feet which is something I have gotten used to lately with all of the CBCs. We saw many of the regulars like the White-breasted Nuthatches shown above. The great thing about doing multiple CBC's is that it gives you the opportunity to observe trends between them all and one interesting thing with the nuthatches this time around is that they were not always necessarily in pairs of two like they were in most of the other counts. Funny how you could have 13 Black-capped Chickadees, 3 Tufted Titmice, 1 Downy Wookpecker, but always 2 White-breasted Nuthatches whenever you called out the birds with the chickadee tape.
We also got some birds we were hoping for like the Carolina Wren which was a site to behold and motivated you some to continue which was tough at times with the weather and what it was doing to your optics and wil. Loved getting the Carolina Wrens in the CBCs as it gave me the opportunity to hear many of their various calls (and boy are there a lot of them), that I am just learning.
And of course hundreds of Black-capped Chickadees like the one above. The chickadee is always the leader of the pack and wherever they go, the others follow and its always so cheerful that one can't help but smile when you see one land on a branch with the others not far behind.
A big highlight of our day was seeing this Brown Creeper above which was very well camouflaged by the tree trunk. I could hear the call of some Golden-crowned Kinglets high up in the tree branches which were covered by snow, but I could also hear something that sounded like one, mid tree, and low and behold crept the creeper! We also had two Red-breasted Nuthatches here which was the highlight of the count. Their call is one of my favorites and I honestly didn't think I would hear it until spring. Awesome!
Another highlight was seeing a large flock of about 75 Red-winged Blackbirds that I spotted while using my binoculars to attempt to follow a Cooper's Hawk who flew below the tree line. I could see various blackbirds in a pine tree and couldn't tell what they were exactly but they looked too black to be European Starlings so Alan got his scope out and was able to confirm Red-winged Blackbirds. How cool is that!
And speaking of low visibility, an example above of the conditions. The picture is of a Red-tailed hawk perched in a tree.
We would see 4 of these hawks in total yesterday and based upon all of the numbers I have seen in all of the counts its obvious these numbers are not declining any and many are year round residents and not migrating. Of course these could be visitors from further up north, but I can't see the nesting Red-tailed Hawks tolerating that for long which leads me to believe they are year round but could be wrong. Kind of disappointed in the accipiter numbers and will be comparing their numbers to past CBC's once the numbers are loaded into the CBC site. Should be interesting to analyze.
We also had other large flocks like this large flock of Cedar Waxwings as well as large flocks of American Robins.
And I end the CBC series with some shots of winter, frozen in time like this Northern Cardinal who popped with color against the white landscape.
Bittersweet that will help many birds survive the winter.
Snow clinging to flowers from seasons past providing a different kind of foliage.
And rose hips covered in snow.

All in all, I really enjoyed all of the CBC's I did. I learned a lot about our winter birds and got to bird with some really cool people. It can't get much better than that and look forward to next year. Take care all!

Worcester Christmas Bird Count-Saturday

Another Christmas Bird Count today and this time it was the Worcester area. Alan, Paul and I headed out this morning expecting to get a lot of the same old, same old with perhaps a few surprises mixed in like this beautiful Red-shouldered Hawk above. We were driving in a busy part of West Boyalston when suddenly Paul sees a hawk of interest and asks Alan to cross the intersection to get a better look at it. The car stops and the two of them have their bins on the bird and I hear Paul contemplate Red-shouldered which instantly causes my heart to jump and ears perk up. I am in the back of the truck and can't see much except for a buteo shaped bird from the breast down so assume it's a Red-tailed because why the heck would a Red-shouldered hang out at such a place.
Finally both agree on it being a Red-shouldered and I can't take being cooped up in the back not being able to see it so Paul lets me out and I almost trip out of the truck to get my own glimpse of such a fantastic bird perched in West Boyalston of all places!
I ask Alan to get his scope out in an attempt to get some digiscoped pictures and the only ones that came out half way decent were the face shots which I love anyhow as it really shows the eyes of a bird and hence it's soul (corny but true in my own eyes!). Look at those beautiful brown eyes and sweet little face!
Finally it flies off and I attempt to get a couple of flight shots and am thrilled to finally get a flight shot of a Red-shouldered Hawk that is identifiable.
Here it is going away to our dismay. Highlight Worcester County bird for the month of December for me and I just want to say Paul, you rock for seeing it!! :0)
But that's not all folks, check out what else that was spotted. This very handsome Eastern Towhee was hanging out with a Northern Mockingbird and some White-throated Sparrow. I seriously miss this bird and is one of the things I yearn to hear most whenever venturing power lines so this was indeed a sight for sore eyes.
Another highlight was seeing a flock of Wild Turkeys over near Wachusett Reservoir.
We also had a Sharp-shinned Hawk there as well. The picture came out lousy but it was a quick fly by so this was the best I could get. We also got a Belted Kingfisher and Pileated Woodpecker around this area.
And then of course there were the regular CBC birds like the Black-capped Chickadee above.
And the many Downy Woodpeckers we saw in many of the places we went.
We also saw a lot of American Robins whose red breast really pop now with the bare trees and gray skies.
And the familiar Tufted Titmouse like the one giving me the eye above.
A Black-capped Chickadee checking out the recording device of its call. It is common practice to have a device such as this for CBC's with the most popular recordings being the Eastern Screech-Owl, the Red-bellied Woodpecker and of course the Black-capped Chickadee. This device is a life saver during bird counts as it brings the birds into your area for counting which is needed as time doesn't allow you to travel a piece of land inch by inch.
We also had one American-tree Sparrow at an empty feeder shown above. Hope they fill those feeders up tomorrow before the big storm!
More backyard birds.
And what I thought was a cool Tufted Titmouse shot.
We also had our fair share of Mourning Doves like the group above.
A picture of our hearty CBC leader Paul going to check out some Scaup we had seen earlier who was making sure nothing else had flown over. We in the meantime, were in the cozy warm truck!
A very large flock of Cedar Waxwings participating in some very bizarre behavior. The flock of them were fixated on the leaves of oak trees and you could hear their call and the rustling of leaves in the area where the trees were. At first we though perhaps they were feeding on something in there (like insects), but then saw some of them looking like they were getting ready to settle in for the night so perhaps they think of this as a good overnight roosting spot?
Finally we went to go check on the gull roost where we met up with Marion and Scott so we decided to join forces for the count. There were hundreds of Ring-billed Gulls but the highlight was the Iceland Gull mixed in with the others!
I would be remiss if I didn't include other non-bird related photos like the one above which was a path we hiked along. The weather today wasn't half as bad as expected so we did a lot of hiking which was awesome! I had forgotten how much I missed getting outdoors and doing some serious walking in the winter so this was a real treat and can't wait to get out there some more, especially with my new snowshoes I will be getting!
Really neat ice pictures like the one above. How cool is that!
And check out this rock
And finally a shot of the rocks under still unfrozen water at Wachusett Reservoir. The water is so crystal clear, you can see all of the details and colors in the rock.

Take care everyone!