Christmas Bird Count 2004

I can't believe it's been months since we added an entry to our journal. One of our New Year's resolutions is to write at least one a week. We just finished the Christmas Bird Count feeder watch for St. Tammany Parish, LA. The count was good. We saw a lot of Northern Cardinals, Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, Red-Winged Blackbirds, Carolina Wrens and 3 different kinds of woodpeckers. However, we didn't see several birds that we know are here, but for whatever reason just didn't show up today. Only 4 hawks (3 red-shouldered and 1 red-tailed) were observed. We were pleased with the number of pine warblers (8) ruby-crowned kinglets (9) and wood ducks (8). Unusual sightings included a pair of American woodcocks and a small flock of Canada geese. We also noted 3 eastern bluebirds. Last week, before our little cold spell, a male and female E. bluebird were checking out one of the nest boxes by the pond. It's a little early for that, even down here in South LA. Tomorrow, we are going to check each nest box to see if they are ready for the nesting season (which will start in early February for the Carolina Chickadees.) We'll make notes about the boxes that need repairing or replacing. We'll have to get those done within the next couple of weeks.