A fool for birds.

Despite sleeping in (it was my day off, and heck, I wanted to give you guys a head start) I finally made it out into the yard and was greeted immediately by some good birds; Rusty Blackbirds and a few Fox Sparrows down by the creek. I had a number of birds on my hit list today and things went well on that front with only a few let downs. I wanted Hermit Thrush, Winter Wren, YBSA, Black Vulture, Brown Thrasher and hoped for a Louisiana Waterthrush or something else cool like some fly over action. As I made my way along the creek I was in constant company of a dozen or so Golden-crowned Kinglets (and later I'd learn, several dog ticks). Then, a gurgling grunt from above made me look up and I saw a Northern Rough-winged Swallow wing it past! At a pool in the creek I had a wonderfully large Common Map Turtle, kind of a rarity along my creek. In the floodplain woods I was thrilled to find a Hermit Thrush as it hopped and ducked around the weeds and Osage Orange trees, I watched it for several minutes, what a sweet bird, and a bit of a nemesis, Yard Bird 134! For some reason I looked up and I'm sure glad I did, because cruising over were two Black Vultures! I'd seen them down the road, very close to my yard, but this was yet another Yard lifer (and yes, Skye, I guess this sp. does mean I'm a southerner). I almost missed them, since I was just entering the forest and the sky view was limited. There was a lot of TUVU around as well. Up on the skinny pine ridge I have, I unearthed a Winter Wren, I was very happy to find the little sprite. The only Warbler I could find was good old Butter But. No Sapsuckers! No LOWA! No Thrasher! Oh well, theres always tomorrow. Total bird count for the day? 50 Species, a number sure to be surpassed later in the month. I had to add BLVU to the spreadsheet, does that mean its rare? Hey you northerners, quit seeing so many cool ducks! Gahh.