Feb 1, 2020: Wolf's January 2020 Wildlife Report

Finding owls is always a pleasure, more so than just hearing them in the night.  The Barred Owl's "Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?" is quite familiar to most people.  However, this is just one of more than a dozen calls, ranging from a "siren call" to a "wail" to a sometimes frightening "monkey call".  During the day, Barred Owls roost on branches or in tree cavities and hunt at night. (Wolf. Oesterreich. 1/3/20)

A total of 40 avian species (plus 1 sp.) was recorded this month, ranking this month as the 5^th highest January (tied with 2016) among 23 years of records.  This total is 14 species less than last month and 9 less than January 2019.  January 2019 with 49 species remains as the highest January total, while January 1998, with only 18 species, remains as the lowest.

Listed below, following the species’ names, are the date(s) of sighting(s), plus the occasional miscellaneous information regarding numbers, gender (♂=male, ♀=female), age (im=immature, ju=juvenile, abp=adult breeding plumage, ad=adult, anb=adult non-breeding), color phase (b=blue, w=white), and location (BY=back yard, FY=front yard).  The order follows the 60^th Supplement (2019) to the American Ornithologists’ Union Check-list of North American Birds and the 19^th Supplement to the 7^th Edition (1998).

I wasn't able to ride on the 4th (participated in the Neal Smith NWR Christmas Bird Count) and 19th-20th (too darn cold!).

AVIAN

     SNOW GOOSE: 5-6 (1 im w), 14 (1 ad w), 25 (1 im w), 30 (1 im w)

     CACKLING GOOSE: 1 (2+), 2 (3+), 5 (4+), 6 (10+), 7 (4+), 9 (5+), 10 (2+), 12 (2), 13 (3),

          14 (2), 16 (1), 17 (2), 18 (1), 24 (1)

     CANADA GOOSE: 1-31

     TRUMPETER SWAN: 1 (125), 2 (134), 3 (120), 5 (119), 6 (123), 7 (126), 8 (149), 9 (142),

          10 (140), 11 (143), 12 (150), 13 (137), 14-15 (141), 16 (129+), 17 (199), 18 (179+),

          19 (175-189), 20 (128), 21 (103), 22 (96), 23 (104), 24 (100), 25 (103), 26 (6), 27 (93),

          28 (94), 29-30 (88), 31 (99)

     TUNDRA SWAN: 1-3 (1 ad), 5-8 (1 ad + 2 im), 9-20 (1 ad), 22 (1 ad), 24-25 (1 ad),

          27-31 (1 ad)

     GADWALL: 20-21 (1♀)

     MALLARD: 1-3, 5-31

     AMERICAN BLACK DUCK: 13-15 (1), 17 (1)

     GREEN-WINGED TEAL: 22 (2♂), 27 (2♂), 31 (2♂)

     LESSER SCAUP: 1-3 (2♂), 5-9 (2♂), 12-15 (2♂), 16-23 (1♂)

     RING-NECKED PHEASANT: 12 (1)

     EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE: 25 (2)

     MOURNING DOVE: 3 (2), 5 (1), 13 (3 BY), 18 (1 BY), 20 (1 BY), 25 (6), 26 (20), 27 (1),

          30 (12)

     SHARP-SHINNED HAWK: 17 (1 im BY)

     COOPER’S HAWK: 12 (1 im BY), 13 (1 ad BY), 15 (1 im BY), 30 (1 ad BY)

     BALD EAGLE: 1 (3 ad + 1 im), 2 (2 ad), 3 (1 ad), 5 (1 ad + 2 im), 6 (1 ad),

          8 (2 ad + 4 im), 9 (2 im), 10 (3 ad + 1 im), 11 (2 ad), 12 (1 ad + 1 im), 13 (2 ad),

          14 (1 ad), 15 (1 ad + 1 im), 16 (2 ad), 17 (5 ad + 1 im), 19 (1 ad), 21 (1 ad),

          22 (1 ad + 1 im), 28 (1 ad), 30 (1 ad)

     RED-TAILED HAWK: 3 (1), 5 (2), 8 (2), 10 (2), 14 (2), 15 (1), 17 (2), 19 (1), 21-22 (1),

          28 (1), 30 (2), 31 (1)

     Buteo sp.: 16 (1)

     GREAT HORNED OWL: 29 (1 BY)

     BARRED OWL: 3 (1), 23 (1)

     BELTED KINGFISHER: 2-3 (1), 18 (1)

     RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER: 1 (1), 3 (1), 5-8 (1), 9 (2), 12 (2), 13 (3), 21 (1), 24 (1),

          26-27 (1), 28 (2), 29-30 (1), 31 (2)

     DOWNY WOODPECKER: 1-3, 5-9, 11-22, 24-31

     HAIRY WOODPECKER: 12 (1), 21-22 (1), 30-31 (1)

     NORTHERN SHRIKE: 1-2 (1), 3 (2), 5-6 (1), 8 (1), 10-13 (1), 19 (1 BY), 21-22 (1), 24 (1),

          29-31 (1)

     BLUE JAY: 1-2, 6-8, 10-11, 13-18, 21-24, 26-31

     AMERICAN CROW: 1-3, 5-25, 27-31

     BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE: 1-3, 5-24, 26-31

     WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH: 1-2 (1), 3 (3), 5 (1), 6 (4), 9-10 (1), 12 (2), 13-14 (1),

          15 (2), 17 (1), 21-22 (1), 23 (2), 29 (2), 30-31 (3)

     EASTERN BLUEBIRD: 12 (7), 21 (5), 29 (5), 30 (1)

     AMERICAN ROBIN: 2 (2), 5 (1), 9 (1), 12 (2), 23 (1), 26-27 (1), 30-31 (1)

     EUROPEAN STARLING: 1-3, 5-10, 12-13, 19, 25, 30

     HOUSE SPARROW: 1-3, 5-31

     EURASIAN TREE SPARROW: 6 (1 BY), 9 (1 BY), 11 (1 BY), 14 (1 BY), 19 (1 BY),

          21 (1 BY), 23-24 (1 BY), 30-31 (1 BY)

     HOUSE FINCH: 1-3, 5-24, 26-31

     AMERICAN GOLDFINCH: 6 (2), 29 (2)

     AMERICAN TREE SPARROW: 1 (3 BY), 3 (9 + 1 BY), 5-6, 8, 10, 15 (1 + 2 BY),

          16 (6 + 2 BY), 17 (3 BY + 6), 18 (2 BY), 19 (1 BY), 20 (~50 + 2 BY), 21 (4 BY),

          22 (5 BY), 23 (3 BY), 24 (8 BY), 25 (6), 26 (4 BY), 27 (3 + 4 BY), 28 (10 + 3 BY),

          29 (4 BY + 6), 30 (9 + 3 BY), 31 (14 + 3 BY)

     DARK-EYED JUNCO (Slate-colored): 1-3, 5-9, 11-31

     HARRIS’S SPARROW: 9 (1 BY), 17 (3 BY), 20-21 (1 BY), 22 ( 3 BY), 23-24 (1 BY),

          27 (1 BY), 30-31 (1 BY)

     SONG SPARROW: 7 (1), 15 (3), 22 (1), 30 (2)

     NORTHERN CARDINAL: 1-3, 5-31

Unless indicated otherwise, the White-tailed Deer were antlerless. 

MAMMALIAN

     EASTERN COTTONTAIL: 2-3, 9, 11, 14, 17-22, 24-26, 28-31

     EASTERN FOX SQUIRREL: 1-3, 5-19, 21-31

     MEADOW VOLE: 9 (1)

     COMMON MUSKRAT: 2 (1)

     WHITE-TAILED DEER: 1 (4 + 1 BY), 2 (7), 3 (4 + 6 BY), 5 (5), 7 (BY 1 10pt♂ + 4), 8 (6),

          9 (1), 10 (4 BY), 12 (1), 14 (6), 20 (3 BY), 21-22 (1 BY), 23 (1), 26 (5), 30 (2)

Wolf. Oesterreich