BESP 1/5/2011

I arrived at BESP around 8:00 am with the goal of adding more species to my year list as well as a lifer. Two species in particular I was searching for were Northern Shrike and Pine Siskin. Unfortunately, I struck out on both species, but I did manage to add quite a few species to my year list, which is now at 41!

There was a decent amount of open water at the park, which contained 6 Hooded Mergansers and 1 Common Loon. I searched the rest of the open water in the park and there was no sign of waterfowl. I didn't see the Bald Eagles either.

Hooded Mergansers (BESP 1/5/2011)

American Tree Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos were very numerous throughout the park. I hiked the Butterfly Trail and found a lone Song Sparrow, a few White-throated Sparrows, a flyover flock of Cedar Waxwings, and heard a Ruffed Grouse drumming.

White-throated Sparrow (BESP 1/5/2011)

I searched for the Northern Shrike by the main office for about 45 minutes and came up empty. I watched the feeders for a while to look for 2 Pine Siskins that were reported, and came up empty. Below is a list of species observed this morning.

Location:     Bald Eagle SP
Observation date:     1/5/11
Number of species:     25

Hooded Merganser - Lophodytes cucullatus     6
Ruffed Grouse - Bonasa umbellus     1
Common Loon - Gavia immer     1
Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias     1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - Accipiter striatus     1
Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis     2
Belted Kingfisher - Megaceryle alcyon     1
Red-bellied Woodpecker - Melanerpes carolinus     1
Downy Woodpecker - Picoides pubescens     4
Northern Flicker - Colaptes auratus     2
Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata     10
American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos     10
Black-capped Chickadee - Poecile atricapillus     15
White-breasted Nuthatch (Eastern) - Sitta carolinensis carolinensis     1
Eastern Bluebird - Sialia sialis     6
American Robin - Turdus migratorius     1
Northern Mockingbird - Mimus polyglottos     1
Cedar Waxwing - Bombycilla cedrorum     8
American Tree Sparrow - Spizella arborea     2
Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia     1
White-throated Sparrow - Zonotrichia albicollis     14
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) - Junco hyemalis hyemalis/carolinensis     6
Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis     5
House Finch - Carpodacus mexicanus     10
American Goldfinch - Spinus tristis     6