Off To A Good Start

The first was a full day, and while we did not see Redpolls, we did see Long-tailed ducks and a lot more. In the end, we tied last January’s number. So, For the second year running, we kick off the birding year with 43 species tracked down from Marysville to Gates of the Mountains to Clark’s Bay to Mount Helena. 

Images were tough to come by in many cases due to the distance between us had the birds, but a few shots look pretty decent. 

In addition to the Long-tailed ducks, we were very happy to find a flock of 40-50 Pinyon Jays. If we had actually taken the spotting scope (which I left in the entryway at home by accident) we could have added about 6 more species out at Gates of the Mountains. Oh well, Jan 1, 2027 is only 12 months away!

Here’s the list- 

• Magpie

• House Finch

• Dark-eyed Junco

• American crow

• Mallard

• Wood duck

• Cackling goose

• Canada goose

• Merlin

• House sparrow

• Cedar waxwing

• Bufflehead

• Long-tailed duck

• Common goldeneye

• Western bluebird

• Common raven

• Bald eagle

• Rough-legged hawk

• Red-tailed hawk

• Northern harrier

• Red crossbill

• Downy woodpecker

• Northern flicker

• Lesser scaup

• Pigeon

• Ross’s goose

• Pine siskin

• Eurasian collard-dove

• European starling

• White-breasted nuthatch

• American kestrel

• American robin

• Black-capped chickadee

• Townsend’s solitaire

• American tree sparrow

• Ring-billed gull

• American coot

• American widgeon

• Trumpeter swan

• Greater White-fronted x Canada goose hybrid