Reply #102: hey bird reporters

[semillama]

There is a birders thread in the outdoor life group, FYI...

Also for the reports of blackbirds, are they actually blackbirds or are they starlings? I know that it can be easy to confuse the two types of birds. I've heard that actual blackbird flocks are way down, especially rusty blackbirds.

Remember that it hasn't been that harsh a winter, which effects the rate of migration, and we've had some weather patterns that can cause reverse migration, which occurs when weather patterns carry birds with them. As to flocks of geese headed north, if you have "resident" canada geese like here in Ohio, you can see them flying in any direction, simply traveling to the next feeding spot.

I will say that I was up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan over xmas break, and it seemed normal to me - 100 inches cumulative snowfall, single-digit highs. Although the bird diversity seemed pretty low to me when I went out cruising feeders. I guess the christmas bird count was normal, though.

Here, it's raining. no snow. and they are saying 60 degree-highs next week!!! in January! I'm offended.

We had some records on our christmas bird count for Hoover Resevoir in Columbus, though - a merlin, not seen on the bird count since the 1950s, 5 bald eagles, and a screech owl were among the others. This has been a pretty good year for rarities, it seems, with a golden eagle and Prairie Falcon at the Wilds, some Northern Goshawks up north, and a Rufous Hummingbird at someone's feeder in December, which is rare but not unheard of.