Big January Birds

Eastern Bluebirds in Lisbon, ME 1-16-2015

My Big January this year was a bit limited in scope due to my recent surgery and then a fall which resulted in a dislocated shoulder. Still, for being in Maine in winter, and limited to mostly birding in my own yard or when my husband or my daughter took me out for a drive, I did not do too bad. My Big January Total was 54 species. When going through these photos I finally identified a Red-necked Grebe I saw on Bailey Island on January 2nd. These are the birds I was able to photograph with the complete list posted at the end, as well as my current eBird stats.

 Cooper’s Hawk on Mere Point Road 1-1-2015

 Barred Owl on Rossmore Road in Brunswick 1-1-2015

 Red-necked Grebe Bailey Island 1-2-2015

 Black Guillemot Bailey Island 1-2-2015

 Canada Geese, Bailey Island 1-2-2015

 Common Eiders, Bailey Island 1-2-2015

 Common Loon, Bailey Island 1-2-2015

 Rock Pigeons on a rooftop, Bailey Island, ME 1-2-2015

 European Starlings in tree on Bailey Island 1-2-2015

 Northern Cardinal and Dark-eyed Junco Mere Point Cottage yard 1-4-15

 Female Buffleheads, Mere Point Boat Launch 1-6-15

 Common Goldeneyes, Bath, ME 1-10-15

 Ring-billed Gull, Bath, ME 1-10-15

 American Crow, South End Launch Facility, Bath, ME 1-10-15

 Common Mergansers in the Androscoggin River, Topsham, ME 1-11-15

Seen from the parking lot on Bowdoin Island

Seadog Brewing Company is the eBird Hotspot

 Greater Scaup, Mere Point Boat Launch 1-11-2015

 Wild Turkeys, Mere Point Road 1-12-15

 

 Immature Bald Eagles, North Boat Launch, Bath, ME 1-13-15

 Hairy Woodpecker Grammie’s Ramblings yard 1-16-14

 Eastern Bluebird, Grammie’s Ramblings Lisbon, ME 1-16-15

 

 Common Redpolls, Mere Point Cottage 1-18-2015

 Hermit Thrush, Mere Point Cottage 1-18-2015

 Cedar Waxwings in my front yard bushes 1-21-2015

Northern Pintail Duck 1-25-15 West Bath, ME

 

Many THANKS to my husband and daughter who drove me all over the place and my friend, Grace of Grammie’s Ramblings who let me drop in on her in more ways than one! I wanted to go farther and see more, but I am happy with all the birds I saw. The Northern Pintail Duck was a new species to my Maine Life List, so that was an added bonus. I kept hoping to see a Brown Creeper in time to add to my Big January Bird Count, because I know they are around here, but one did not show up in my yard until yesterday. While it did not make it onto my Big January Bird Count, it did make it my 55th species of the year. Now I just need to get out and find some more birds…if it would only stop snowing!

Big January Bird List

Species	Location	Date
1. Red-tailed Hawk	Mere Point Yard	1-1-2015
2. Mourning Dove
3. Red-bellied woodpecker
4. Downy Woodpecker
5. Hairy Woodpecker
6. Blue Jay
7. American Crow
8. Black-capped Chickadee
9. Tufted Titmouse
10. White-breasted Nuthatch
11. American Tree Sparrow
12. White-throated Sparrow
13. Dark-eyed Junco
14. Northern Cardinal
15. House Finch
16. American Goldfinch
17. Common Eider	Mere Point Boat Launch
18. Black Scoter
19. Cooper’s Hawk	Mere Point Road
20. Herring Gull	Mere Point Road
21. Barred Owl Rossmore Road
22. Ring-billed Gull	Wharton Point
23. Wild Turkey	Maquoit Road
24. Bald Eagle	Maine St. Brunswick	1-2-2015
25. Rock Pigeon	Brunswick
26. Long-tailed Duck	Orr’s Island
27. Bufflehead
28. Canada Goose	Bailey Island
29. Mallard
30. Surf Scoter
31. Red-breasted Merganser
32. Common Loon
33. Red-necked Grebe
34. Black Guillemot
35. Great Black-backed Gull
36. European Starling
37. American Robin	Mere Point Cottage	1-3-15
38. Pine Siskin
39. Common Merganser	Topsham	1-6-15
40. American Black Duck	Mere Point Boat Launch
41. Common Goldeneye
42. Purple Finch	Mere Point Cottage	1-7-15
43. Red-breasted Nuthatch	Brunswick Landing	1-10-15
44. Eastern Bluebird	North End Launch Facility, Bath
45. Common Redpoll	Mere Point Cottage	1-11-15
46. Pileated Woodpecker	Mere Point Road
47. Greater Scaup	Mere Point Boat Launch
48. Hermit Thrush	Mere Point Cottage	1-18-15
49. Sharp-shinned Hawk	Mere Point Cottage	1-21-15
50. Cedar Waxwing
51. Common Raven	West Bath, Me	1-23-15
52. Northern Pintail Duck	West Bath, ME	1-25-15
53. White-winged Scoter	Mere Point Cottage	1-28-15
54. Hoary Redpoll*	Mere Point Cottage	1-29-15

*While I do not have a photo of this bird, I believe I did see a Hoary Redpoll. It was much lighter and a bit bigger than the other redpolls it was hanging out with. It seemed to have that pug faced look that is described in the bird books. It was so strikingly different than the other redpolls, but I did not get a look at its rump to see the white patch there. I was busy talking on the phone to a friend at the time. When she hung up the bird was gone and I could not find it again. This is a Life Bird for me, so I am in a bit of a quandary because I want to feel confident that I actually saw this bird. For the moment I do have it on my eBird List, but I sure would feel better if it came back and I got a photo of it!

Current 2015 Stats	Life	Year	Month
Species seen	479	55	24
Checklists submitted	7468	91	7
Mere Point Cottage Species	111	39	23