Through My Kitchen Window

You don't have to go far for good birding. Just look out your kitchen window. It helps if you have a feeder set up. I put out a platform feeder and tube feeder filled with sunflower seeds, a suet cake, and a heated water bath. Although I live in the 'burbs, I am fortunate to have a small forested area in my backyard and a few large cedar trees that provide protection for the songbirds from winter weather and foraging hawks, not to mention a large picture window in our kitchen/family room that looks out on this scene.

Any day is a good day when you identify a new bird species to add to your life list. I've been wondering for weeks (years actually) when I would see my first Pine Siskin. These irruptive finches have been reported all around me on the Vermont bird list. But today was the first time they showed up at my feeder. A fitting end to a good birding year. A few other notable birds for me in 2008 were Spruce Grouse and Boreal Chickadee (Moose Bog), Black-backed Woodpecker (Victory Bog), Red-shouldered Hawk (Essex Junction), Cave Swallow (Charlotte), Cliff Swallow and Black Tern (Missisquoi NWR), Snowy Owl (Delta Park and Burlington waterfront), Great Gray Owl (Burlington), Barred Owl and Harlequin Duck (Shelburne Point), Long-tailed Duck and Tufted Duck (Colchester-South Hero Causeway), White-winged Scoter (Shelburne Pond), Brant, Greater White-fronted Goose and Barrow's Goldeneyes (Shelburne Bay), Sandhill Cranes (Bristol Pond), Pine Grosbeaks and Bohemian Waxwings (Technology Park), and Common Redpolls and a Carolina Wren at my house. 2008 was a great year for local birding despite or perhaps because of the dismal economy.

So Happy New Year to all. I hope that 2009 will be your Great (Birding) Year.