Clark's Grebe
Mountain Bluebird
2010 was a great year for my birding. I was able to travel a decent amount this year and my regular visits to Oxley Nature Center for the Adopt-a-Trail program helped sharpen my birding skills.
The vacation I took to Colorado really boosted my Life List, as well as the year-end bird totals. Some of the new species observed during the Colorado-New Mexico trip were: Pinyon Jay, Stellar Jay, Clark's Grebe, Black-headed Grosbeak, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, and the Mountain Bluebird.
One thing to note is the unusually low numbers for certain "urban birds" (i.e.- House Sparrows, European Starlings, Northern Cardinals, Northern Mockingbirds, Mourning Doves, etc) is due to the fact that I generally don't record the numbers for birds I see when not birding. Sometimes, I note if I see a raptor or other strange bird near my apartment, but for the most part I don't record
every bird I see. I think it would become too time-consuming (especially the
giant groups of starlings I see near I-244/Utica), though I might want to consider recording more of the birds I see in the city (when not birding).
Also, the jump in numbers seen during the winter is due to the large amount of waterfowl that winter in the ponds and lakes in the area. On a single birding trip during the winter it isn't unusual to see 250-500 waterfowl on the ponds/lakes of Oxley Nature Center. The large groups of Canada Geese also help boost my individual counts.
Annual Total:
2010 -
128 Species / 8,004 Individuals / 73 Checklists
Monthly Totals:
April 2010 -
18 Species / 143 Individuals / 3 Checklists
May 2010 -
37 Species / 349 Individuals / 9 Checklists
June 2010 -
48 Species / 330 Individuals / 18 Checklists
July 2010 -
22 Species / 87 Individuals / 3 Checklists
August 2010 -
36 Species / 364 Individuals / 5 Checklists
September 2010 -
55 Species / 1,689 Individuals / 14 Checklists
October 2010 -
55 Species / 2,489 Individuals / 12 Checklists
November 2010 -
35 Species / 1,159 Individuals / 4 Checklists
December 2010 -
45 Species / 1,394 Individuals / 5 Checklists
Bird Species Totals:
Greater White-fronted Goose 1
Canada Goose 568
Trumpeter Swan 2
Wood Duck 149
Gadwall 833
Mallard 576
Blue-winged Teal 254
Northern Shoveler 69
Northern Pintail 25
Green-winged Teal 100
Bufflehead 8
Common Goldeneye 1
Hooded Merganser 16
Ring-necked Pheasant 1
Wild Turkey 17
Pied-billed Grebe 50
Clark's Grebe 1
American White Pelican 1,212
Double-crested Cormorant 166
Great Blue Heron 114
Great Egret 88
Snowy Egret 26
Little Blue Heron 8
Green Heron 10
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 2
White-faced Ibis 1
Black Vulture 3
Turkey Vulture 37
Osprey 8
Mississippi Kite 4
Bald Eagle 2
Northern Harrier 2
Cooper's Hawk 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 22
Red-tailed Hawk 9
American Kestrel 28
American Coot 198
Killdeer 285
Greater Yellowlegs 1
Lesser Yellowlegs 2
Wilson's Snipe 3
Ring-billed Gull 293
Rock Pigeon 2
Eurasian Collared-Dove 2
Mourning Dove 15
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 4
Barred Owl 1
Common Nighthawk 15
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 37
Broad-tailed Hummingbird 1
Belted Kingfisher 27
Red-headed Woodpecker 80
Red-bellied Woodpecker 24
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 2
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 16
Northern Flicker 67
Pileated Woodpecker 24
Eastern Wood-Pewee 6
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 1
Eastern Phoebe 7
Great Crested Flycatcher 2
Western Kingbird 14
Eastern Kingbird 27
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 15
Bell's Vireo 2
Yellow-throated Vireo 1
Warbling Vireo 6
Red-eyed Vireo 4
Steller's Jay 2
Blue Jay 46
Pinyon Jay 2
Black-billed Magpie 6
American Crow 278
Common Raven 3
Purple Martin 3
Bank Swallow 22
Barn Swallow 416
Carolina Chickadee 170
Tufted Titmouse 77
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 8
Brown Creeper 1
Carolina Wren 64
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 39
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 3
Eastern Bluebird 17
Mountain Bluebird 2
Swainson's Thrush 2
Hermit Thrush 3
American Robin 335
Gray Catbird 6
Northern Mockingbird 14
Brown Thrasher 15
Curve-billed Thrasher 1
European Starling 85
Cedar Waxwing 24
Nashville Warbler 2
Yellow Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 18
Black-and-white Warbler 2
Prothonotary Warbler 4
Ovenbird 1
Mourning Warbler 1
Wilson's Warbler 2
Spotted Towhee 3
Eastern Towhee 8
Chipping Sparrow 6
Lark Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 29
White-throated Sparrow 49
Dark-eyed Junco 70
Summer Tanager 3
Western Tanager 1
Northern Cardinal 168
Black-headed Grosbeak 2
Indigo Bunting 52
Painted Bunting 3
Dickcissel 4
Red-winged Blackbird 57
Western Meadowlark 5
Common Grackle 228
Baltimore Oriole 2
American Goldfinch 26
House Sparrow 40
Location Totals:
Oxley Nature Center, North Woods 2010 Total: (5 months of observations)
73 Species / 2,659 Individuals / 16 Checklists
Mohawk Park - Oxley Nature Center (eastern section of ONC) 2010 Totals : (6 months of observations)
57 Species / 2,291 Individuals / 12 Checklists
Mohawk Park /Oxley Nature Center, All Areas 2010 Total: (6 months of observations)
85 Species / 4,950 Individuals / 28 Checklists
Colorado/New Mexico Vacation Total:
40 Species / 198 Individuals / 16 Checklists
Oklahoma 2010 Totals: (9 months of observations)
115 Species / 7,515 Individuals / 62 Checklists
Clark's Grebe photo courtesy of Calibas, via Wikipedia.org
Mountain Bluebird photo courtesy of Elaine R. Wilson (NaturesPicsOnline), via Wikipedia.org
-SPQ 1/4/2011
