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Subject:

GBBC @ Billy Goat Trail

From:

Claire Nemes

Reply-To:

Claire Nemes

Date:

Sat, 19 Feb 2011 13:27:19 -0500

Hi there,

I was thrilled that my day off coincided with the first day of the Great Backyard Bird Count, and took advantage of the weather to do some birding at Great Falls. I did the Billy Goat Trail section A (starting from Old Angler's Inn), headed up to the visitor's center, and headed back to Angler's Inn via the trail on the far side of the canal. By far the coolest sighting was a GREAT HORNED OWL, seen being harassed by a posse of American crows (about 15 minutes into the Billy Goat Trail) at about 10 a.m.! It was totally unexpected--a life bird for me! Here's the full list:

Carolina chickadee-10
Tufted titmouse-8
Northern cardinal-1
Golden-crowned kinglet-4
Carolina wren-2
Red-breasted nuthatch-1 (poking and probing at pinecones)
Song sparrow-1
Dark-eyed junco-3
American goldfinch-2
Mourning dove-1
Yellow-rumped warbler-1
Downy woodpecker-1
Pileated woodpecker-2
Red-bellied woodpecker-1
Eastern bluebird-1
Blue jay-2
American crow-4
Turkey vulture-7
Black vulture-17
Red-tailed hawk-2 (a pair circling together)
Red-shouldered hawk-3
Bald eagle-1 (gliding with the kettle of vultures for a few minutes)
Great horned owl-1
Gull sp. (circling too high to identify)
Belted kingfisher-1
Canada goose-10
Mallard-11
Common merganser-2
Double-crested cormorant-2 (when I entered my count for this eBird and the GBBC website said this was an unusual sighting, but I did find another eBird sighting for February.)
Great blue heron-1

Also had a nice red-tailed hawk fly through the backyard and perch in a nearby tree Friday morning. Today, however, I didn't see a single bird at the feeders before leaving for work!! Too windy?

Good luck to everyone else who's participating in the GBBC!

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