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| A Little Bird Nerd original design |
Back in January, I wrote a
blog post about the first fifty species of birds I'd seen in 2017 in Macomb County. Just a week into January I had observed fifty different avian species. This may sound like a lot for one week, but really, because the "year list" resets each January, each species counts as something new. This makes milestones out of even the most common birds, from Canada Geese to House Sparrows and European Starlings. Because of this, that first fifty adds up quickly.
I knew the next fifty would take much longer than a week to reach. Having spotted many of the common winter birds, it would now be a matter of waiting for new arrivals to trickle in. January passed, then February, both fairly mild and pleasant temperature-wise. I birded as often as I could, squeezing in visits to local parks, watching out the back window at home, and of course always birding while driving... or walking... er, always birding! With March came final papers and exams, so I was trapped inside for much of the month, finishing the last semester of my bachelors degree. While many of my classmates had professional plans for post-graduation, I was simply looking forward to the chance to go birding more (I know, that's probably bad). So as soon as I finished, I got back out on the trails, hitting and exceeding 100 species by April 4th.
I suspect I'll reach the next fifty milestone (150 species) in a shorter amount of time than this lot, as spring migration should bring a wide variety of birds. I can't wait!!
For now, scroll down to enjoy photos of species #51-100 I've seen in Macomb County in '17. (')< ♫
January 11th
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| Great Blue Heron |
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| Rough-legged Hawk (poor quality photo but great bird!) |
January 12th
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| Ruddy Duck (definitely one of my fav ducks) |
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| Common Merganser (female and male) |
January 13th
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| Brown-headed Cowbird (male and female) |
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| Carolina Wren |
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| Merlin |
January 14th
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| Great Black-backed Gull (juvenile) |
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| Lesser Black-backed Gull |
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| Hooded Merganser (male and females) |
January 16th
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| Sharp-shinned Hawk (could not get it in focus!!) |
January 18th
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| Eastern Screech-Owl |
January 29th
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| Great Horned Owl |
January 30th
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| Snowy Owl (female) to complete the owl trifecta! |
February 1st
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| Snow Bunting |
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| Horned Lark |
February 5th
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| Lapland Longspur |
February 18th
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| Turkey Vulture (aka Tuvu , aka Cathartes aura) |
February 19th
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| Belted Kingfisher (one of my yard friends) |
February 22nd
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| Killdeer |
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| Sandhill Crane |
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| Northern Shoveler (still waiting for a closer view of some of these ducks, aka better quality photos) |
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| Gadwall |
February 24th
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| Cedar Waxwing (such a cool looking bird!) |
February 25th
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| Ring-necked Duck |
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| Surf Scoter (top, black bird) |
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| Red-breasted Merganser (male and female) |
March 11th
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| Wood Duck (female) |
March 16th
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| Purple Finch (female) |
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| Northern Pintail (just left of center) |
March 18th
March 23rd
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| American Coot |
March 24th
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| Pied-billed Grebe |
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| Tree Swallow |
March 27th
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| Savannah Sparrow |
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| Blue-winged Teal (female and male) |
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| Virginia Rail (with chick; photo taken summer '15) |
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| Marsh Wren (one of my favorite birds to photograph) |
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| Green-winged Teal (another duck I desperately need a better picture of!) |
March 29th
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| Common Loon |
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| Horned Grebe |
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| Eastern Phoebe |
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| Osprey (photo taken in '16 at Pte. Mouillee) |
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| Eastern Meadowlark |
March 31st
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| Northern Flicker (male, as evidenced by black moustache) |
April 2nd
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| Great Egret |
April 3rd
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| Wilson's Snipe |
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| Forster's Tern |
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| Pileated Woodpecker |
April 4th
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| Field Sparrow (aka "The Lipstick Sparrow", or the "Tea Kettle Sparrow" ©LBN) |
Happy Birding! (')< ♫ ♪
