I vowed that I wouldn't keep a January list this year, but the minute I opened my curtains and saw a Carolina Chickadee to start 2009 I was sucked in one more time.

My original plan for the day was to go to Mohican and try to get decent (i.e. pubishable by paying national publications) photos, but I could even find any. I spend a couple hours there poking through hemlocks without luck. Pine Siskins were plentiful, though. It was very cold and windy with lots of habitat, and I'm sure that there are still some around, but today wasn't a good day to try.

Since I was in the same general latitude, I headed west to Killdeer Plains. I took back roads along the way, notably the Morral-Kirkpatrick Rd. where I found 3 mixed Lapland Longspur/Horned Lark flocks averaging about 50 birds apiece. None had any Snow Buntings with them. Later in the day I saw another such flock between KPWA and Upper Sandusky.  Sorry I can't give any exact locations, but longspurs seem to be widespread in the area right now and don't need much effort to find if you put in a few miles.

Ponds at KPWA were freezing up fast, but there was still a lot of waterfowl numbers-wise but not variety-wise. Birds on Pond 27 included Tundra Swans, N Pintails, Gadwalls, and Am. Black Ducks. The upground reservoir was still mostly opened, with Common Merganser and Common Goldeneyes present.  A Rough-legged Hawk was near the Sportsman's Center as was a flock of Eastern (presumably, they weren't singing!) Meadowlarks. On TH-123 south of Pond 3 there was a Northern Shrike. A casual search for Red-headed Woodpeckers wasn't fruitful, but I did see some Swamp Sparrows by Pond 9.

The Upper Sandusky Reservoir was also freezing up quickly, but there was still a bit of open water. Highlights there included at least a dozen Gr. White-fronted Geese, some Am. Wigeons, and a pair of Buffleheads. 

On the way back I drove through KPWA again, but had to wait until after 5:30 when I drove through Big Island W.A. to get species #50, Short-eared Owl. I saw about a half dozen in a few minutes without much effort, but it was almost dark.

I missed a lot of common birds today that should be easy to find tomorrow in my backyard (i.e. Carolina Wren, Am. Robin). I'll keep my 2009 list up to date at my website until I hit the 100 mark, or get burned out by it, whichever comes first.

Bob Royse


Robert Royse
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www.roysephotos.com

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