Our December bird study has been accomplished by participation in Project Feederwatch.
We didn’t see a Belted Kingfisher for that particular Outdoor Hour Challenge. As much as I travel in California, I have never seen one in real life. I used the location and species application over on the Great Backyard Bird Count website to local possible locations for future observation. It looks like that we can find them within an hour’s drive of our house which is encouraging.
Here are our details for Project Feederwatch so far in the month of December.
- Anna’s hummingbird-1
- Western scrub jay-2
- Titmouse-2
- House finch-12
- Junco-9
- California towhee-2
- Spotted towhee-3
- Sooty fox sparrow-2
- White-crowned sparrow-8 (no house sparrows yet!)
- Mourning dove-2
- Downy Woodpecker-1
- Mockingbird-1
- American robin-5
- Lesser goldfinch-6
- Western bluebird-3
- Northern flicker-3
- European starling-6
- White-breasted nuthatch-1
Other Nature Notes
- Aside from counting birds this month, I have been keeping track of rainfall. Yes, we have had rain! Our rain gauge has measured a total of 11 inches of rain since 12/1/14. We have been so dry that we don’t mind the rainy days at all!
- We have had some beautiful orange-pink sunrises in the last week with the stormy clouds.
- The last of the autumn leaves are down from the trees.
- My Zygocactus has started to bloom.
- We have several rose buds on the plant.
- My early spring Narcissus bulbs are blooming! I think they are a little mixed up about the season.
This year I am pretty much on my own for weekday nature walks. I am scheduling in at least two long walks a week because walking and thinking are so very refreshing. Just getting outside in the air to observe the season takes a little effort but it is never disappointing. Let me how you are able to keep your nature walks going during the winter. I will be writing an article for an up-coming newsletter about the benefits of regular outdoor time for families.
How is your December looking?