Big January is Upon Us

Gila Woodpecker my 1st bird of 2009

The New Year is upon us and Larry from The Brownstone Birding Blog has thrown the gauntlet down once again. The challenge is on for another Big January where you count how many species of birds you can see in your state for the month of January. It was just last year when I first heard of this challenge and it was from Larry who asked in his last New Year's post, "What was your first bird of the New Year?" I had never thought about it, but last year it was a Costa's Hummingbird. This year the Gila woodpeckers are at the nectar feeders almost as often as the hummer's, so when I opened the shade on New Year's morning, one of these beauties flew off the feeder and over the wall. I wasn't able to get a photo of that one, but just like clockwork, they were back again today and I was able to get this pretty head shot of a female Gila woodpecker clinging to the nectar feeder once again. We have been having gorgeous weather since December 31st, but you wouldn't believe what the weather was like just a few days before when we returned from a Christmas trip to Colorado.

Snow in flowers 12-28-08

We arrived home late and in the dark on December 27th to find snow on the windshield of Gus' truck. The next morning I found snow on the flowers and the patio.

Melting the ice in the birdbath 12-28-08

The birdbath was frozen solid, so I upended it in the sunshine to melt. All my feeders were empty. I couldn't fill them fast enough. I had never seen so many hungry hummingbirds in my life.

Cold and wet Costa's Hummingbird (molting or immature male) 12-28-08

Though the males defended the feeders aggressively, the females just kept coming. I saw one little girl land to feed and a male landed on her back and drilled her head with his beak. She just kept drinking, enduring the pain as long as she could before she finally flew away.

Snow on golden barrel cactus 12-28-08



Gus eats breakfast on the patio New Year's Morning 2009

New Year's morning dawns bright and beautiful. We grab our cereal bowls and coffee and head outdoors to eat. Gus just has to call his folks in Maine and tell them how warm it is outside. I can't repeat their response. So, I started counting birds this very morning. I counted 11 birds in and around my yard on the January 1, 2009. (See results below.)


A sharp-shinned hawk scared all the birds away on Thursday morning. Then this Cooper's Hawk dropped by and chased them all away today.

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We took a walk this evening on a stretch of Harrison Road. The sparrows ran, hopped and flew skulking through the cactus and grass, then hopped up on twigs to bathe themselves in golden sunlight.

Cactus wrens with speckled breasts turned first one check and then the other towards the last rays of the sun. How they stand on those thorny cactus spines, I will never know.

Northern Mockingbird 1-2-09 by Kathiesbirds

The farther down the hill I go, the more phainopeplas and mockingbirds I see. Do they like this lower elevation, or is it simply that their food supply is down here? I find the mockingbirds perched on desert hackberry and the phainopela's anywhere that is near the mistletoe paristizing the native trees. As we turn back towards the mountains I see Mt. Fagan blush with the healthy glow of a winter's day in Southeast Arizona.

Mt. Fagan Sunset 1-2-09 by Kathiesbirds

One way that I keep track of my counts is with eBird. Run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, eBird is a great way to keep track of your bird counts. Once you register, you can enter your bird counts as Stationary counts, travelling counts, area counts, or casual observations. The website explains it all and it will keep track of your life lists, your year lists and each area that you bird in. I was a bit intimidated to try it, but doing the Big January last year got me started and now I do it all the time. Last January my total was 89 birds. Now I count birds where ever and whenever I can. It's fun for me and I feel like I am helping out science and the birds in my own small way. Larry beat me last year with 93 species. Perhaps I can beat him this year. Mary of Mary's View is in on the fun too. Won't you join us?

Big January Count (so far)

1. Gila woodpecker (birds seen 1-1-09)
2. Gilded Flicker
3. Gambel's Quail
4. Mourning Dove
5. Costa's Hummingbird
6. Sharp-shinned hawk
7. Say's Phoebe
8. Curved-billed thrasher
9. House Finch
10. Lesser Goldfinch
11. House Sparrow
12. Cooper's hawk (Birds seen 1-2-09)
13. Common raven
14. Rock Wren
15. Cactus Wren
16. Northern Mockingbird
17. Phainopepla
18. Canyon Towhee
19. White-Crowned sparrow
20. Rufous-winged Sparrow
21. Black-throated Sparrow
22. Brewer's sparrow