February 2011 Totals

American White Pelican

Bald Eagle

                                                                    1 male & 2 female Common Mergansers

It is was pretty difficult to get out and bird this month. There was an epic blizzard (25-40 inches over a 10 day period) that hit the region the first two week of February.

That being said, the individual bird totals were pretty good (1400+), helped by the first day I went birding after the blizzard when I spotted over 900 gulls on Lake Yahola in Mohawk Park.

I was very pleased to get to see some neat birds this month - most notable the Hooded and Common Mergansers on Lake Yahola.

It was good to see a Bald Eagle. I haven't birded around the Arkansas River much this winter so I don't get to see them as often as I would like. I suppose that Bald Eagles aren't too uncommon to see at Oxley, the lake provides for a good source of food, but I haven't seen many this season.

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)      43

Gadwall (Anas strepera)    23

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)    24

Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata)    57

Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) 15

Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)    20

Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)   30

Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)    40

Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)    9

American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)    18

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)    12

Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)    1

Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)    6

American Coot (Fulica americana)    70

Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)    1020

Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)    2

Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus)   17

Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)    3

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius)    1

Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens)    2

Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)    5

Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)    1

Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)    7

American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)    8

Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis)    20

Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)    5

Brown Creeper (Certhia americana)    1

Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus)   1

American Robin (Turdus migratorius)   7

Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)    2

Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum)    3

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Dendroica coronata)   4

Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus)   1

White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)    9

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)   13


American White Pelican Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.org (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:American_White_Pelican.jpg)

Bald Eagle Photo courtesy of US Fish and Wildlife Service, via Wikipedia.org (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Haliaeetus_leucocephalus2.jpg)

Common Merganser Photo courtesy of Rolandzh, via Wikipedia.org (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jona_-_Jona_(SG)_-_Mergus_merganser_IMG_9145.JPG)


-SPQ 2/28/2011