Absence = Busyness

Sorry for not posting recently. As my title says, I've been pretty busy with work and having two quarterly/midterm exam wit my college classes. Surprisingly though, I've still been birding a lot (Maybe even more). The past couple weeks or so I have added 15 new year birds to my county list. That makes me in barely fourth place in the ebird standings for Kent Co.; 15 species behind the leader. It started out with my fourth attempt to see Northern Shrike. I did find it along with my year bird Sandhill Crane at Roselle Park. Another trip to Tassel Park yielded Song Sparrow. I went to the wetlands east of Hotel Ave. and found the Great Horned Owl on nest that had been reported by many.  Canvasback at Verlsuis Park. Carolina Wren at my feeders. First of year Red-winged Blackbird at my neighbors bird feeders. The biggest miss recently was a Barrow's Goldeneye found on the Grand River and roosting at Verlsuis Park. It would have been a state bird, but after 6 tries for it, I could not spot it. One night trying to see it come in for roosting at Verlsuis Park, I ran into two other birders. Rick Brigham, a well known birder from Allegen, and another who I failed to ask his name. We stayed out in the close to single-digit windy evening for well over an hour standing, just watching flock after flock of Common Goldeneye come in. It was a big disappointment not seeing it with it being so close to my house. As always with birding, some "luck" is necessary. But those trips to Verlsuis and the river did give me my year birds: Great Blue Heron, Wood Duck, American Black Duck, Hooded Merganser, Bufflehead, and Lesser Scaup. Driving around Cannonsburg and Kentwood produced Killdeer and Horned Lark. And finally, I had Turkey Vulture in my backyard and Ruddy Duck at Versluis. Turning out to be a good year so far. The pair of Red-shouldered Hawks keep staying in the area. I see them almost every day. Still have not found a nest, but its hard when their not calling much. Future trips include Luton Park for American Woodcock, my professors house for Eastern Screech Owl, and more trips to the Cannon Township Trail and Versluis Park.
(I will be adding the photo of the owl on nest soon)

 Red-shouldered Hawks (Male on top, female on bottom)

 Male Red-shouldered hawk

 Carolina Wren

 Another Red-shouldered pic

 Black Phase Eastern Gray Squirrel

 Female Red-bellied Woodpecker

 More Red-shouldered pics (Female on bottom, male on top)

 Black-capped Chickadee

Male Red-winged Blackbird

2014 Kent Co., MI Bird List: 68 Species