I haven’t written anything since August. Being a student with a full-time job got in the way, but I’ve been enjoying winter break for several days now. It would be hard to sum up an entire semester’s worth of birding in just one post, so I’ll end the year by sharing two videos from October I like. The first is of a Red-tailed Hawk at Indian Lake County Park. It preened itself but then stopped when it noticed me and my hiking buddy. I was worried it would fly off, but it assessed the situation and went back to preening. It let us walk right by it.
The second is a flock of Northern Shovelers. It’s the longest bird video I’ve made so far. They’re odd ducks.
Lastly, a bird sighting from today: an overwintering Chipping Sparrow at our feeder. I’m pretty sure that’s the first time I’ve seen one in the yard after fall.
I ended the year with 184 bird species. Given the time constraints of school and work during fall migration, I’ll take it. The only species since my last update on here were Lark Sparrows and Grasshopper Sparrows, two grassland birds. I’m excited to see what next year holds. Maybe I can get a Chipping Sparrow on January 1st if it sticks around. I’m also hoping I can get out of the Madison area more often. I’ll have to take advantage of summer break.
Happy New Year!