Birdwalk Highlights for 1/24: Durham feeders, here and there, and Leon Gorham Park, Freeport.

Sometimes I wonder if I have created a monster. Why would people show up for a birdwalk on a morning with a windchill of at most -15F???

Oh right. This is why.

But with dangerously cold temperatures, I had to be creative...and stay inside. So I went back home. I mean, our house was designed for viewing birds from comfort afterall! So, our small group parked in front of our viewing windows and let the birds come to us...while shedding layers!

We spent an hour and 15 minutes viewing, amassing a respectable 18 species! 15 AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES, 12 DARK-EYED JUNCOS, 8 BLUE JAYS, 6 AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS, 6 AMERICAN CROWS, 6 TUFTED TITMICE, 6 NORTHERN CARDINALS, 5 EUROPEAN STARLINGS, 4 EASTERN BLUEBIRDS, 4 DOWNY WOODPECKERS, 4 BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES, 2 CAROLINA WRENS, 2 WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, 2 HAIRY WOODPECKERS, 2 MOURNING DOVES, and a single male RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER. We also pulled out a single RING-BILLED GULL from a total of 18 HERRING GULLS commuting overhead.

But you know our goal is 20 species, so we left the house needing two more. I looked for a locally-wintering Red-shouldered Hawk and American Robins to no avail, before finally twitching 4 HOUSE SPARROWS in the CVS parking lot in downtown Freeport for # 19.

As it turned out, this desperation move worked out really well! Since we only needed one more bird, and there was debate as to whether or not we were truly "out birding" this morning, I decided to take a short stroll in the shelter of nearby Leon Gorman Park. I assumed I would pick up HOUSE FINCH, which we did eventually hear, but the first two birds we saw were not at all expected. As two birds flushed ahead of us, getting bins on one at a time, we realized we had found two seasonal rarities...made even more shocking based on how cold and snowy it has been...

A HERMIT THRUSH and a GRAY CATBIRD!!! Seriously. Thomas has photos to prove it.