Yikes, I’m so far behind where I want to be with my blogging! What happened to January, that’s what I want to know?!
In December 2013 I birded at Gemini Springs five times, where I saw a total of 67 species (4 more than my 2012 December total). New for my all-time Gemini Springs list was Great Horned Owl on Christmas Day. My total bird list is at the end of this post. Here are some photographic highlights from a month of birding my local patch.
Dam viewed from the fishing pier | 03 December 2013
Red-shouldered Hawk | 03 December 2013
Very late American Redstart | 11 December 2013
ex-armadillo | 16 December 2013
Bobcat | 16 December 2013
Common Ground-Doves | 16 December 2013
Common Snapping Turtle | 16 December 2013
Before sunrise | 20 December 2013
Anhinga sunrise | 20 December 2013
easy rider | 20 December 2013
American Kestrel | 20 December 2013
Loggerhead Shrike | 20 December 2013
memorial | 20 December 2013
Eastern Phoebes | 25 December 2013
Late in the afternoon on Christmas Day, Arthur and I biked the Spring-to-spring bike trail to Lake Monroe Park. It was getting dark on our way back when a softly hooting Great Horned Owl stopped us in our tracks. Soon we heard a second bird and did our best to locate them visually. Arthur spotted one bird and we tracked it as it flew to its mate. A new bird for the park and a nice Christmas gift for us. 🙂
Great Horned Owl | 25 December 2013
Gemini Springs bird list, December 2013
Wood Duck – Aix sponsa
Pied-billed Grebe – Podilymbus podiceps
Wood Stork – Mycteria americana
Double-crested Cormorant – Phalacrocorax auritus
Anhinga – Anhinga anhinga
American Bittern – Botaurus lentiginosus
Great Blue Heron – Ardea herodias
Great Egret – Ardea alba
Snowy Egret – Egretta thula
Little Blue Heron – Egretta caerulea
Tricolored Heron – Egretta tricolor
Cattle Egret – Bubulcus ibis
White Ibis – Eudocimus albus
Glossy Ibis – Plegadis falcinellus
Black Vulture – Coragyps atratus
Turkey Vulture – Cathartes aura
Osprey – Pandion haliaetus
Bald Eagle – Haliaeetus leucocephalus
Red-shouldered Hawk – Buteo lineatus
Red-tailed Hawk – Buteo jamaicensis
Sora – Porzana carolina
Common Gallinule – Gallinula galeata
American Coot – Fulica americana
Ring-billed Gull – Larus delawarensis
Forster’s Tern – Sterna forsteri
Mourning Dove – Zenaida macroura
Common Ground-Dove – Columbina passerina
Great Horned Owl – Bubo virginianus
Belted Kingfisher – Megaceryle alcyon
Red-bellied Woodpecker – Melanerpes carolinus
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – Sphyrapicus varius
Downy Woodpecker – Picoides pubescens
Pileated Woodpecker – Dryocopus pileatus
American Kestrel – Falco sparverius
Eastern Phoebe – Sayornis phoebe
Loggerhead Shrike – Lanius ludovicianus
White-eyed Vireo – Vireo griseus
Blue-headed Vireo – Vireo solitarius
Blue Jay – Cyanocitta cristata
American Crow – Corvus brachyrhynchos
Fish Crow – Corvus ossifragus
Tree Swallow – Tachycineta bicolor
Carolina Chickadee – Poecile carolinensis
Tufted Titmouse – Baeolophus bicolor
House Wren – Troglodytes aedon
Carolina Wren – Thryothorus ludovicianus
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher – Polioptila caerulea
Ruby-crowned Kinglet – Regulus calendula
American Robin – Turdus migratorius
Gray Catbird – Dumetella carolinensis
Brown Thrasher – Toxostoma rufum
Northern Mockingbird – Mimus polyglottos
Cedar Waxwing – Bombycilla cedrorum
Black-and-white Warbler – Mniotilta varia
Orange-crowned Warbler – Oreothlypis celata
Common Yellowthroat – Geothlypis trichas
American Redstart – Setophaga ruticilla
Palm Warbler – Setophaga palmarum
Pine Warbler – Setophaga pinus
Yellow-rumped Warbler – Setophaga coronata
Yellow-throated Warbler – Setophaga dominica
Chipping Sparrow – Spizella passerina
Swamp Sparrow – Melospiza georgiana
Northern Cardinal – Cardinalis cardinalis
Red-winged Blackbird – Agelaius phoeniceus
Boat-tailed Grackle – Quiscalus major
American Goldfinch – Spinus tristis
