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5th Annual BIG Birding Day - Saturday, May 14, 2022
It was a BIG day for birding!
In celebration of Global Big Day our teams of spotters scattered throughout the Rochester area looking for as many bird species as we could find. We concentrated at three main areas - Silver Creek Reservoir, County 9 Marsh, & Chester Woods. Other individual birders created lists from Quarry Hill, Kutzky Park, Root River Couty Park, Izaak Walton Wetlands, Cascade Lake, Cascade Meadows and the Kalmar Reservoirs. When all the lists were combined we totaled 136 species! That's a big jump from 2021 when we found 101 species.
The warm sunny weather with temps in the 70s made for easy birding and several birders continued counting long after our scheduled walks. This year's BIG Day was later than most - which may have helped us find more vireos and warblers (19 species compared to last year's 13). Possibly the best find of the day was a Bell's Vireo at Chester Woods. It's not a flashy bird, but certainly uncommon. A Lawrence's Warbler (a hybrid of a Golden-winged and Blue-winged) was also a great find. The complete species list is below (and if you know of any that were left out - please let us know).
Special thanks to our BIG Day Leaders Brendan Lanpher & Michael Degerstrom plus the many, many other individuals who helped out along the way including Jerry Pruett, Joyce & Terry Grier, Dave Gross, Patty Trnka, Sandy Hokanson, Brian Jump, Gary Miller, Kevin Halling, Denise, Mary, Lance Vrieze, Joel Dunnette, Jim Peterson, & Joanna P . I'm sure I've missed a few people - my apologies).
Next year's BIG Birding Day will be on May 13. Details will be posted next year.
Species list:
Canada Geese
Wood Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
Mallard
Redhead
Lesser Scaup
Canvasback
Hooded Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Wild Turkey
Ring-necked Pheasant
Pied-billed Grebe
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared Dove
Mourning Dove
Common Nighthawk
Chimney swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Virginia Rail
Sora Rail
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Least Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Wilson’s Phalarope
Spotted Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Black Tern
Common Loon
Double-crested Cormorant
American White Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bal Eagle
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Belted Kingfisher
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Peregrine Falcon
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Alder Flycatcher
Willow Flycatcher
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Great-crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Bell's Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Tree Swallow
Bank Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
White-breasted Nuthatch
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
House Wren
Sedge Wren
Marsh Wren
European Starling
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
Eastern Bluebird
Gray-cheeked Thrush
Swainson's Thrush
Wood Thrush
American Robin
House Sparrow
Housefinch
American Goldfinch
Grasshopper Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Clay-colored Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Henslow's Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Bobolink
Eastern Meadowlark
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Common Grackle
Ovenbird
Blue-winged Warbler
Lawrence's Warbler (hybrid)
Black-and-white Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Mourning Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
American Redstart
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Canada Warbler
Palm Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Reported by Sandy Hokanson. Photos by Brendan Lanpher, Sandy Hokanson and Jerry Pruett
It was a BIG day for birding!
In celebration of Global Big Day our teams of spotters scattered throughout the Rochester area looking for as many bird species as we could find. We concentrated at three main areas - Silver Creek Reservoir, County 9 Marsh, & Chester Woods. Other individual birders created lists from Quarry Hill, Kutzky Park, Root River Couty Park, Izaak Walton Wetlands, Cascade Lake, Cascade Meadows and the Kalmar Reservoirs. When all the lists were combined we totaled 136 species! That's a big jump from 2021 when we found 101 species.
The warm sunny weather with temps in the 70s made for easy birding and several birders continued counting long after our scheduled walks. This year's BIG Day was later than most - which may have helped us find more vireos and warblers (19 species compared to last year's 13). Possibly the best find of the day was a Bell's Vireo at Chester Woods. It's not a flashy bird, but certainly uncommon. A Lawrence's Warbler (a hybrid of a Golden-winged and Blue-winged) was also a great find. The complete species list is below (and if you know of any that were left out - please let us know).
Special thanks to our BIG Day Leaders Brendan Lanpher & Michael Degerstrom plus the many, many other individuals who helped out along the way including Jerry Pruett, Joyce & Terry Grier, Dave Gross, Patty Trnka, Sandy Hokanson, Brian Jump, Gary Miller, Kevin Halling, Denise, Mary, Lance Vrieze, Joel Dunnette, Jim Peterson, & Joanna P . I'm sure I've missed a few people - my apologies).
Next year's BIG Birding Day will be on May 13. Details will be posted next year.
Species list:
Canada Geese
Wood Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
Mallard
Redhead
Lesser Scaup
Canvasback
Hooded Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Wild Turkey
Ring-necked Pheasant
Pied-billed Grebe
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared Dove
Mourning Dove
Common Nighthawk
Chimney swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Virginia Rail
Sora Rail
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Least Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Wilson’s Phalarope
Spotted Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Black Tern
Common Loon
Double-crested Cormorant
American White Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bal Eagle
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Belted Kingfisher
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Peregrine Falcon
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Alder Flycatcher
Willow Flycatcher
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Great-crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Bell's Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Tree Swallow
Bank Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
White-breasted Nuthatch
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
House Wren
Sedge Wren
Marsh Wren
European Starling
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
Eastern Bluebird
Gray-cheeked Thrush
Swainson's Thrush
Wood Thrush
American Robin
House Sparrow
Housefinch
American Goldfinch
Grasshopper Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Clay-colored Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Henslow's Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Bobolink
Eastern Meadowlark
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Common Grackle
Ovenbird
Blue-winged Warbler
Lawrence's Warbler (hybrid)
Black-and-white Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Mourning Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
American Redstart
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Canada Warbler
Palm Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Reported by Sandy Hokanson. Photos by Brendan Lanpher, Sandy Hokanson and Jerry Pruett