Christmas Bird Counts: a pictorial summary (and some yard birds too!)

I participate on two Christmas Bird Counts every season, the Cincinnati, Ohio and East Fork Counts. Here is a quick pictorial summary of some of the best birds that was found by my party or by myself.

David Brinkman and I found a pair of Ring-necked Ducks on a small subdivision pond in Milford, OH (this is the male) on the Cincinnati Count.

Juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk (A.K.A. "The Palestine Buteo" for those who were at the Cincinnati tally)



Bob Foppe and I found this Barred Owl in Bethel, OH on the East Fork Count, 1st bird of the day!



I found this Merlin near Bethel, OH.

Below are some of the cool birds that I found in the yard recently!

Purple Finch on the left, House Finch on the right (both males).




Found this Golden-crowned Kinglet feeding on sap wells in the backyard.

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East Fork Christmas Bird Count

Jaime and I attended the East Fork CBC Saturday. This is always my favorite count to go on because it is near my home and covers places I am familiar with. It always proves that there are good birds all around us, but most go unnoticed by birders. All in all, got good birds, met new birders, very good day.

Went owling before the count and was able to get/call in 2 Great Horned Owls, 2 Barred Owls, and 1 Screech Owl, all of them from the park property, which is not always easy - off to good start.

The morning started out very slow (a little cold), but as the day got later, the birds got better.

There was no tally, so I do not know what others groups may have. I know ours had some good birds.

Some pictures from the day:

Sandhill Cranes in Salt Air (name of small town),



I spotted a distant raptor that looked different from the many kestrels we were seeing (both a good thing). We stopped, got closer looks and confirmed a Merlin (also later saw bird in flight). This was outside of Bethel on country roads. Not a good photo, but better than my other pic of a merlin that was right in front of me (my old crappy camera).



Many raptors. Some of our group's better birds were:

1 Rusty Blackbird
Sandhill Cranes
A Merlin
Harriers
A male Purple Finch
2 Fox Sparrows

May be missing something.