BlueBirder: Quinnipiac Valley Christmas Bird Count 12/15/19

Today was the Quinnipiac Valley Christmas Bird Count, my 4th year with QVCBC.

Weather: Sunny, and cold, but cloudy most of the day. Sprinkled for a few minutes.

Overview:
We met up with count leader Corrie Folsom O'Keefe and Allison Black at the Vietnam Veteran's Park in Wallingford. We first drove over to a pond where they thought the Greater White-fronted Goose was, but it turned out to be the domestic goose. Once I got ready, we searched the field perimeter for sparrows. We spooked out 3 White-throated Sparrows from the bushes, and then 2 Eastern Bluebirds flew over and landed in a small, leaf-less tree. So I was able to get photos. After I went back to Corrie's car to get my gloves. After I got my gloves, we hiked over to the Community Gardens, we hoped for some sparrows. And then I found the first American Tree Sparrow of the day (and I believe it was the only one for the day). The community gardens produced Black-capped Chickadees and a Carolina Wren. So we headed to the car and drove past the soccer fields and parked. I packed my back and headed out to Tyler Mill. Once we saw a bunch of coniferous, the search began for owl whitewash and the actual owl. No luck. It was awfully quiet at Tyler Mill, the heavy rain the day before probably made the birds hide. We were getting to the end of Tyler Mill, then we heard some chickadees. Then the titmice, and flickers. Not to mention we had like 300 geese fly over since the moment we walked into Tyler Mill. Once we got to the end, the sun light was exposed. Then Patrick Comins and Tom Baptist pulled up. At nearby Pistapaug Pond, they saw 10 Common Ravens, Common and Hooded Mergansers, and Common Goldeneye. After Patrick and Tom left, Corrie sent me into a tangle of branches and thorns to look for Eastern Screech Owl (they had one this morning for owling, that was the only owl of the night). So I go into the bushes (and thorns). Come back out 5-10 minutes later, nothing but rabbit/deer poop and an empty Jack Daniel's bottle. We then walked in a field (probably a hunting field), so I got a photo of the field. Once we reached the car, we decided to go to Tamarac Swamp Road (which is an entrance to Tyler Mill). While driving, I saw a male Ring-necked Pheasant! Then when we pulled around, Allison found a second Ring-necked Pheasant! 2 Ring-necked Pheasants is a good count for our CBC, it might be the highest count. Once we got to the road, sparrows popped out of the bushes, mostly Song Sparrows, one or two White-throated Sparrows also popped out. We drove to the entrance of Tyler Mill, then more birds popped out. Blue Jays, flickers, and Downy Woodpeckers. Then more birds came, a robin! First of the day! Then a falcon flew over the field, it was too big for a Merlin, and the facial markings were different, it was a Peregrine Falcon! I believe it was first of the day. Then 8 robins flew over, Corrie thought they were starlings, but the flight pattern fit American Robin. Then all of a sudden, we heard a familiar "meow". It sounded, and it was indeed a Gray Catbird! That is a fine bird for December. We decided to drive deeper into Tyler Mill. A few minutes later, we parked the car and hopped out. We were going to split into groups, Allison went to the right trail, and me and Corrie went to the left trail. We didn't see much, except our first Hairy Woodpecker of the day and 2 Carolina Wrens territorial calling back can forth, these wrens defend their territories year-round. We drove back to the second entrance, and back to Veteran's Park to eat lunch. My lunch consists of Gluten-Free Ciabatta roll with turkey, ham, and mayonnaise, along with gluten-free pretzels. 10+ minutes of eating lunch, we drove over to some nearby ponds. I spotted 2 Hooded Mergansers (another new bird for our side of the CBC). Then Corrie spotted a duck in a ponds, so we pulled over on the side of a busy road. The "duck" was a not a duck. So we drove down to Bridle Ln where we usually see some birds. This place is called Three Meadows Park (I created a ebird hotspot for it, cause nobody seems to bird here except us). I quickly hopped out of the car, Blue Jays flew everywhere. Dark-eyed Juncos, Black-capped Chickadees, and then I spotted the first White-breasted Nuthatch of the day! We had Winter Wren last year here, but none here this year. For the past years, the trails here have been full of leaves and branches and bushes, that nobody walked through the trails. But fortunately, the trails were clear! So we went to the first trail, there were some birds, but mostly deer/rabbit dung. Every step, rabbit and deer poop was there (maybe I am over exaggerating "every step"). We didn't see much the all time. We then went to Coyle Fields, where we usually get Common Raven. While we were there, we hiked through another part of Tyler Mill. Bust. We did get to walk on a not-that-safe log over rushing water.

Later, I had to get going but we saw Belted Kingfisher

Here are the photos: