Cleaning up

Today I took a short trip in the morning and a short trip in the evening to try to see some of the birds that I missed on the January 1st trip. The first stop was the Logan Fish Hatchery, where Mo Correll and Craig Fosdick joined me in trying to find the Short-billed Dowitcher that had been reported there. I thought I had seen it on the 1st, but I wasn't sure enough to count it. This morning the air was bitterly cold, about 1 degree F, and the warm springs where the dowitcher had been seen were steaming so intensely this morning that it made it hard to see the birds before we spooked them. Eventually we decided that we had either spooked the dowitcher or that it wasn't there to begin with. Just as we were turning to return to the car, I saw two grackles fly over, which Mo and Craig also saw. It was a nice consolation prize for missing the dowitcher! Unfortunately, we could not be 100% confident in which species of grackle these were, common or great-tailed, so for now they will not be added to my list.

In the evening, I tried yet again for the dowitcher, and I was finally successful. I even got some poor digiscoped photos to show for it!

I had another half hour or so left of daylight, so I decided to try to find a Short-eared Owl at the Logan Airport. I not only found the owl in the last few minutes of daylight, but I also saw my first Cooper's Hawk of the year on my way there.