My Baillie Birdathon was a few days ago, and I was hoping to go from midnight to midnight, but I was so tired from Saturday’s 6:30 am start to our local Spring bird count, and then two long days at the 4H beef club show and sale, that I accidentally overslept. So my Birdathon was from 6 am Wednesday to 6 am Thursday.
My goal was to see 80 species and I came so very, very close, with 79 species. My first species was a Barn Swallow and the last was a Marbled Godwit. Most of the species were seen around our farm, house, and my grandparents’ yard, and I saw four species at the local Provincial Park.
All the species I saw:
Pied-billed Grebe, Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Eared Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, American Bittern, Great Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Canada Goose, American Wigeon, Mallard, Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Canvasback, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Ruddy Duck, Northern Harrier, Swainson’s Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Ruffed Grouse, Sora, American Coot, Killdeer, American Avocet, Willet, Marbled Godwit, Wilson’s Snipe, Wilson’s Phalarope, Franklin’s Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Black Tern, Rock Pigeon, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Least Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Warbling Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Black-billed Magpie, American Crow, Common Raven, Purple Martin, Tree Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Barn Swallow, Black-capped Chickadee, Mountain Bluebird, American Robin, Gray Catbird, Cedar Waxwing, European Starling, Yellow Warbler, Chipping Sparrow, Clay-colored Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Lincoln’s Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Western Meadowlark, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Brewer’s Blackbird, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, Baltimore Oriole, Purple Finch, Pine Siskin, American Goldfinch, and House Sparrow.
I was very happy that my scope arrived from Pelee Wings in time for my Birdathon. The scope was a huge help because I could see so far into and across the river, sloughs, and lakes.
My Swarovski scope is an ATM 80 with a 20-60 zoom eyepiece, and a Manfrotto 190 tripod with 128RC head,
(I am wearing one of my favorite t-shirts, from NYC Audubon by Social Pakt)
Some of the birds I saw during my Birdathon, including a Willet,
A male Ruddy Duck displaying,
Swainson’s Hawk,
A very beautiful male mountain Bluebird at the Provincial Park,
Gray Catbird,
Great Blue Heron,
American Wigeon,
A Pied-billed Grebe,
Thank you everyone for helping me exceed my goal for my Baillie Birdathon, I had so much fun and can’t wait for next year!
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Prairie Birder 