We've had twelve bird walks this past year and it was bookended nicely by one special species...the Great Horned Owl. In the very same tree that we saw a Great Horned Owl on that snowy day in January, we saw one again today on this snowy day in December. I believe it was the same male Great Horned Owl that fathered the two owlets we watched fledge on the edge of the greenbelt along Spring Valley Creek that we saw then and again today. The female, which I haven't seen for awhile, is larger and lighter in color.
We had ten species during the walk this morning:
White-crowned Sparrows
Dark-eyed Juncos
House Finches
Ruby-Crowned Kinglet
Downy Woodpecker
Great Horned Owl
Northern Flicker
Mourning Dove
American Crow
Song Sparrow
Before the bird walk started I had also seen an American Kestrel and a flock of American Goldfinch. Right after the bird walk I saw a Black-billed Magpie - so a total of 13 species this morning. Not bad for a snowy day in the Boise foothills of Avimor.
Next year I will not be holding monthly bird walks on the 2nd Saturday of each month. For the sake of family schedule flexibility, Avimor Bird Walks will be scheduled randomly throughout year to take advantage of the different seasons and higher numbers of species to show off. My calendar on this blog will show those dates as I schedule them along with other field trips I plan to attend.
Happy Birding!
No comments:
Post a Comment