Hitting the Minimum

Most of the last month I've been just barely hitting my minimum recommended daily allowance of birds. For instance, today it when I picked up my kids from school I realized I'd been on the computer almost all day and hadn't seen more than just a couple birds. So at 5:30 I headed out for a quick walk down along the Perkiomen Creek hike and bike near my house.

Late in the day, the birds aren't calling nearly as much as in the morning, so it was slow going at first--just European Starlings, House Sparrows, a House Finch, and a couple Mourning Doves by the time I hit the end of my street.

Near the head of the hike and bike trail I finally picked up a Blue Jay, a couple American Robins, a Carolina Chickadee, Song Sparrow, and Tufted Titmouse. Several pairs of Mallard were feeding in the flooded field near the trail, an American Goldfinch and a couple White-breasted Nuthatches flew overhead, and Northern Cardinals chipped in the woods.

Off in the woods, a Red-bellied Woodpecker called, then another. A Downy Woodpecker call gave me another woodpecker for the day, and an American Crow off in the distance padded the list. One female Eastern Bluebird and a Northern Mockingbird brought me within a few birds of my needed goal. A Carolina Wren finally sang briefly off in the distance, and a pair of Yellow-rumped Warblers calling just off the trail brought my walk to a reasonable 20. What with a few other birds seen earlier in the day driving my kids to school, I ended up with 24 species, 120% of my Bird RDA.

Nothing overly unusual, but more than I'd have seen today if I'd just stayed inside on the computer all day.