January 1 2017. Downtown Burlington, ON. My morning routine is usually, make coffee, glance at newspaper, then check for emails. But it was pretty slim e-mail pickings on the first day of the year although there are those emailers who dispatch something every day, come what may. Today 10,000 Birds asked, “What was your first bird of 2016?” A bit early I thought, it’s still dark out – but I’ll watch for it, and thereupon resolved that whatever I saw first would be my Bird of the Day, despite the fact that a few years ago my first of the year was a Ring-billed Gull; how dreary. Would 2017 be any better?
It wasn’t until around mid-day that I left the house. It was surprisingly warm, around 4 deg. C, and I was looking forward to leading a nature hike. As I approached my car I could hear the wheezy little notes of a couple of American Goldfinches high above in an old Ash tree. Heard but not seen I acknowledge, but they have equivalency to me; not everyone agrees. But there you have it, American Goldfinch My Bird of the Day to start 2017. Here are a couple of goldfinch shots from warmer days.
Perhaps more interesting is a note for January 1st in my everlasting nature diary. In 1988 I wrote. “With Geo, M thought we should work on our ’88 list. In its exhaustiveness the list thus far is Canada Goose, Mallard, Black Duck, N Pintail, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Canvasback, Greater Scaup, Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Red-breasted Merganser, Common Merganser, Black Vulture, Rough-legged. Hawk, American Kestrel, Great Blue Heron, Great Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Bonaparte’s Gull, Rock Dove, Mourning Dove, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Starling, House Sparrow, House Finch, Crow, Chickadee, Junco (31). “ I don’t compile year lists any more, really I never did with any enthusiasm, so I’m not attuned to what’s in town and what’s not but I think it’s an impressive start to 1988.
Of special note is that Black Vulture, I clearly remember that bird seen as a big black lump in the top of a large Eastern Hemlock, I could lead you to the very tree today. Black Vultures, while common throughout most of U.S states to the south of us, have been essentially absent from Ontario except for the odd one now and then. But things are changing and Black Vultures are poised to expand their range northwards. Perhaps, in the vulture community, word is spreading that Turkey Vultures are doing too well in Ontario to have it all to themselves. Over perhaps the last five years it’s almost become a sport to stand on the banks of the Niagara River and watch and wait for one of a pair of resident New York State Black Vultures to stray across international border.
And for what it’s worth, by the end of today I could have legitimately compiled a list with: Black-capped Chickadee, House Sparrow, White-breasted Nuthatch, Ring-billed Gull, Mallard, American Black Duck, Trumpeter Swan, Bufflehead, Orange-crowned Warbler, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Red-tailed Hawk and Canada Goose.