Happy New Year to all, and come with me once again on this most stressful journey to tick off 100 different species of birds. For a lot of people here in Ohio they concentrate on just Ohio birds. And that’s alright with me considering that most of the big birders in the state live within a relatively short drive to Lake Erie and all the great birds there.
Now living in Southwestern Ohio, and in close proximity to both Kentucky and Indiana I can’t help but bird in these 2 states as well. Now some my call that cheating, and others might not care at all. For myself it’s using ones resources to gather in as many birds as possible in a part of the country where finding 100 species can prove very difficult. This is birding on a budget where I can’t take off to the lake on a whim to chase down the latest rarity. I need to be frugal with both my money and time and fuel.
Last year was a banner year and I made my 100 species in just the nick of time. This year however might prove to be harder with the “Finch Report” from up North not being in our favor like last year. So I will try my best and work real hard to bring in the 100 species.
So to start out since today is the 1st of January is the birds observed at either my feeder or on this short drive to the store this afternoon.
- Carolina chickadee
- House Finch
- House Sparrow
- American Crow
- Tufter Titmouse
- American Robin
- American Goldfinch
- Red-bellied Woodpecker
- Downy Woodpecker
- Blue Jay
- Red-tailed Hawk
- Northern Mockingbird
- White-breasted Nuthatch
- European Starling
- Northern Cardinal
A Birder's Notebook 
I’m inspired by you to start my own 100 Species Challenge for January. I never really kept a “Winter List” as many of my birding friends do, but I always enjoy the start of the New Year, when my hard-won Year List gets reset to zero and once again even the “junk birds” are new for a short time.
Good luck on your Challenge; I’ll be sure to check up on your progress and see how it’s going.
Cheers,
Pat
Pingback: The Birds of Gocheonnam Lake | On the Wing