I participated in Global Big Day again this year. I hadn’t birdwatched in too long and the event was good motivation. It snowed on Big Day 2020 and I didn’t see too many birds but this year was a lot more interesting. I submitted three checklists on Big Day itself, plus one the day before and one the day after. Here is my list of species from the whole weekend:
- American crow
- American robin
- Baltimore oriole
- Black-capped chickadee
- Blue jay
- Carolina wren
- Common grackle
- Downy woodpecker
- Eastern phoebe
- Grey catbird
- Hairy woodpecker
- House wren
- Mallard
- Mourning dove
- Northern cardinal
- Pileated woodpecker
- Red-bellied woodpecker
- Red-tailed hawk
- Red-winged blackbird
- Ruby-crowned kinglet
- Song sparrow
- Turkey vulture
- White-breasted nuthatch
- White-crowned sparrow
- White-throated sparrow
- Winter wren
26 species in one weekend in one place (my patio) is pretty impressive, I think! I see a lot of these birds every day but many others were pretty special sightings. This was my first time recording eastern phoebe, grey catbird, house wren, ruby-crowned kinglet, and winter wren. I’d never seen a ruby-crowned kinglet at all before this year. Some birds are fairly common here but never fail to bring me delight: the Carolina wrens and Baltimore orioles especially. Carolina wrens are adorable and Baltimore orioles are beautiful but the thing I think is most special about both is their voices. The little Carolina wrens have a variety of extremely loud songs that always make me smile and the Baltimore orioles’ whistled song is so pure and sweet. Our Baltimore orioles always sing the same tune, too, which I’ve noticed from Merlin recordings is, if not entirely unique to them, at least not common to the entire species. This year the orioles returned to my area exactly on Big Day, which feels apt. Big Day 2021 really encapsulated everything I find enjoyable about birding: time spent in nature and the thrill of a successful treasure hunt.
Big Day is over but migration season lasts a bit longer, so maybe I’ll see even more exciting birds in the coming days. If you’re a birder too, I wish you happy birding!
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