Drumroll, please: . . . First Yard Bird of the Year Honors for 2012 go to . . .
The weather was warm, humid, and overcast at 7:30 this morning when I stepped onto the front deck to snap a picture of this little guy, using a flash because the light was still dim. It was making a racket, as Rufous hummers do, and fending off a Buff-bellied Hummingbird (last year's winner) from both the sugar-water and the first-bird accolades.
A challenge is possible from the neighborhood Great Horned Owls who WHO-WHOOed their way through the night starting at midnight as fireworks and gun shots (remember this is Texas) announced the new year. So I guess I'll qualify my announcement by saying this is the first bird SEEN in the yard this year.
A front has arrived in the last hour bringing north winds. Though temperatures are still near 70, they'll drop a bit before too long. Even if the birds start hiding out from a blustery wind, I've already marked 30 species for 2012 and my first day goal of 50 is possible. I'll post the official 2011 list, as promised, later in the day--after I watch the yard awhile. I love new years and new beginnings when every bird can be ticked off the list. It's not that I'm only interested in the tick, of course. I'm much more a backyard birdwatcher than a bird lister. But games and competition with myself are still fun.
214 Yard Birds in a year isn't bad, but I'm aiming higher and checking my list already. Who knows what a new day and new year might bring?
a Rufous Hummingbird!
The weather was warm, humid, and overcast at 7:30 this morning when I stepped onto the front deck to snap a picture of this little guy, using a flash because the light was still dim. It was making a racket, as Rufous hummers do, and fending off a Buff-bellied Hummingbird (last year's winner) from both the sugar-water and the first-bird accolades.
A challenge is possible from the neighborhood Great Horned Owls who WHO-WHOOed their way through the night starting at midnight as fireworks and gun shots (remember this is Texas) announced the new year. So I guess I'll qualify my announcement by saying this is the first bird SEEN in the yard this year.
A front has arrived in the last hour bringing north winds. Though temperatures are still near 70, they'll drop a bit before too long. Even if the birds start hiding out from a blustery wind, I've already marked 30 species for 2012 and my first day goal of 50 is possible. I'll post the official 2011 list, as promised, later in the day--after I watch the yard awhile. I love new years and new beginnings when every bird can be ticked off the list. It's not that I'm only interested in the tick, of course. I'm much more a backyard birdwatcher than a bird lister. But games and competition with myself are still fun.
214 Yard Birds in a year isn't bad, but I'm aiming higher and checking my list already. Who knows what a new day and new year might bring?
