Some December Birding
Published: December 29, 2018
Tags: General Observations, glaucous gull, iceland gull, lesser black-backed gull, great black-backed gull, snow bunting, northern shrike, common redpoll, black vulture, american robin, common yellowthroat, field sparrow, swamp sparrow, canvasback, chipping sparrow, black-capped chickadee, american black duck
I thought I'd make a pictorial blog post about some of the recent sightings I've had. All were in the month of December and most were in Erie County with a few in Wyoming County. The photo captions will tell the stories...
![blog photo](/images/blogs/10900/large/blogs_10900_DSC_5508.jpg)
A first year Glaucous Gull - nice to see the white-winged gulls arriving!
![blog photo](/images/blogs/10900/large/blogs_10900_DSC_5572.jpg)
This Glaucous Gull gave great views!
![blog photo](/images/blogs/10900/large/blogs_10900_DSC_5679.jpg)
An adult Lesser Black-backed Gull
![blog photo](/images/blogs/10900/large/blogs_10900_DSC_5609.jpg)
It was a nice grouping of gulls that showed the size of the Lesser Black-backed compared to the Great Black-backed.
![blog photo](/images/blogs/10900/large/blogs_10900_DSC_5757.jpg)
Not a great photo, but I was surprised to come upon a Snow Bunting perched in a tree in the late afternoon one day!
![blog photo](/images/blogs/10900/large/blogs_10900_DSC_5893.jpg)
This young Northern Shrike was fun to find!
![blog photo](/images/blogs/10900/large/blogs_10900_DSC_5954.jpg)
This Common Redpoll was up in Niagara County - and to date, still one of the only 3 redpolls I've seen this winter, despite promises of them moving southward. My theory is we will see them on their return trip north in the next 3 months. Fingers crossed!
![blog photo](/images/blogs/10900/large/blogs_10900_DSC_6004.jpg)
A nice display of the Black Vulture's silvery wing tips up in Lewiston, a known roost for these uncommon WNY birds.
![blog photo](/images/blogs/10900/large/blogs_10900_DSC_6033.jpg)
This Field Sparrow is certainly running late - seen at Times Beach on Dec. 12th and then again on the 20th.
![blog photo](/images/blogs/10900/large/blogs_10900_DSC_6168.jpg)
A talented American Robin flips and catches a berry!
![blog photo](/images/blogs/10900/large/blogs_10900_DSC_6289.jpg)
It's been nice to continue seeing our familiar sparrows, like this Swamp Sparrow. Our mild winter, so far, has been allowing them to stay and find food still.
![blog photo](/images/blogs/10900/large/blogs_10900_DSC_6311.jpg)
Here's a handsome adult male Canvasback, one of the grander looking ducks, in my opinion. It's nice seeing numbers of them building along the Niagara River.
![blog photo](/images/blogs/10900/large/blogs_10900_DSC_6556.jpg)
This first winter Iceland Gull was a lovely find one afternoon. I find them to be one of the daintier and prettier gulls that we only get to see during winter.
![blog photo](/images/blogs/10900/large/blogs_10900_DSC_6756.jpg)
I sure hope this young male Common Yellowthroat makes it through the winter - or, miraculously gets inspired to move south. I'm afraid he is one of those birds that failed to migrate and succumb to our harsh WNY winters.
![blog photo](/images/blogs/10900/large/blogs_10900_DSC_6791.jpg)
A poor photo of a Chipping Sparrow, another late bird that was seen at my home feeders on the 23rd. I haven't seen him since, so I hope he's in a warmer climate now!
![blog photo](/images/blogs/10900/large/blogs_10900_DSC_7311.jpg)
A closer look than usual of an adult Northern Shrike. This was in Wyoming County on the 28th.
![blog photo](/images/blogs/10900/large/blogs_10900_DSC_7255.jpg)
Lots of Snow Buntings in Wyoming County! I estimated this flock to number around 500. It was difficult to come up with that number, though - the flock kept coming and was very dense with birds, including a few starlings.
![blog photo](/images/blogs/10900/large/blogs_10900_DSC_7135.jpg)
How many Snow Buntings can you see in this photo? Look carefully on the ground!
![blog photo](/images/blogs/10900/large/blogs_10900_DSC_7335.jpg)
This pretty, little Black-capped Chickadee was seen on the 29th during the Hamburg-East Aurora CBC (Christmas Bird Count).
![blog photo](/images/blogs/10900/large/blogs_10900_DSC_7386.jpg)
Another bird that I was happy to include in the CBC was this American Black Duck.