Not as big of a day as it turns out, depending on how you look at it.

I redid my checklist from Whitehouse Nature Center from last week.  The White-throated Sparrow I thought I had, could have possibly been the Swamp Sparrow that Kiehl Smith had a couple of days later.  Very similar look from the front, and I now think it probably was a Swamp Sparrow based on behavior I observed prior.  But with me being unsure of it, I changed my checklist to sparrow sp., thus making my "Big Day" for January only 32 birds. 

A cold kept me from doing much this past week.  I did manage to run to a couple of places on Saturday that I could hit with just sitting in the Jeep, and not walking around.  Bailey Park had some decent waterfowl show up.  I dipped on the Gadwall, but managed FOY Trumpeter Swan, Ring-necked Duck and Redhead.  This pushed me to 44 for the year so far.  Still a chance to surpass my high of 48.  Still quite a few birds I could have chased had I been able to get out more, and actually do some walking.  Pine Siskins have shown up, off and on, throughout the week at my feeders, but not Redpolls yet.  

Similar to last year the year is starting out good for the County overall.  Top 15 currently in the state, and really without any rare birds, in terms of other than timing.  This time last year, which was a fast pace to start, Calhoun had a count of 54 species.  With 3 unconfirmed species reported this weekend (Sandhill Crane, Brown-headed Cowbird, and Northern Pintail) we are up to 71 species seen so far this year.  

Trumpeter Swan family.