I spend a lot of time birding the trail that runs parallel to our street down to the pond. I usually stop at the pond (the trail goes on and connects to an extensive network of trails) and on school days, I typically turn around and head home. It’s a short (maybe half-mile) walk from the door to the pond and back. I typically see a good variety of birds but never counted the species.
This year, starting with curiosity about what kinds of overwintering ducks are on the pond, I began listing the birds I saw and entering my counts into ebird. If I do this for an entire year, I should have a good sense of what birds pass through here and at what times of the year. I’m also curious as to how many species I can find within this short range from my house.
Call it my pond trail big year. Or maybe, it’ll be a small or medium year. I don’t know what to expect, but that’s part of the fun.
I’m not shooting for any specific number since I have no idea what all species are around here. I just want to see how many I see. I’ve already ID’d some life birds on the trail and hopefully a few more will pop up over the next 11 months so there’s that to look forward to also.
Most important, is the excuse to get outside, enjoy nature and watch the world do its thing. Not that I need an excuse for that.
Here’s what I’ve seen so far:
- Gadwall
- American Wigeon
- Northern Shoveler
- Northern Pintail
- Ring-necked Duck
- Blue-winged Teal
- Least Grebe Pied-billed Grebe
- Great Blue Heron
- Great Egret
- Black Vulture
- Turkey Vulture
- White-winged Dove
- Mourning Dove
- Red-bellied Woodpecker
- Ladder-backed Woodpecker
- Eastern Phoebe
- Blue Jay
- American Crow
- Carolina Chickadee
- Black-crested Titmouse
- Ruby-crowned Kinglet
- Northern Mockingbird
- Orange-crowned Warbler
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
- Northern Cardinal
- House Finch
- American Goldfinch
James Brush is a teacher and writer who lives in Austin, TX. He tries to get outside as much as possible.
Sounds like a fun project! Many birders keep yard lists, but adding your trail and pond will make things much more interesting. And Least Grebe is a great find for a neighborhood bird list.
After closer inspection, I believe they are Pied-billed Grebes. I got a better look today.
[…] it a cool day. Still, I figured I’d see what birds were out, do my weekly count for my Pond Trail Big Year and have a look at what the hailstorm did last week. I forgot to charge my camera battery, so no […]
[…] I started out by going down to the pond since I’ve got my pond trail big year going. It’s also where I birded on Day 1 of the GBBC last year. I’m happy to report that I […]