Friday afternoon I went birding along the less snowy backroads nearby. I have never birded in winter before, always waiting till the stirrings of spring. I knew that birds were here year round, after all I still see crows, starlings, and doves around my house and campus. I’ve even read about strategies they use to survive the cold. One of my favorite books on this topic is by Heinrich Bernd, “Winter World: The Ingenuity of Animal Survival”
Still this was my first winter backroads effort. Now if it had been May by list would be enormous. On the other hand it’s still pretty great considering what I had thought I would see.
- Magpies
- Wild turkeys
- Rough legged hawks
- Starlings
- Northern flickers
- Rock doves
- Common ravens
- Robins
- Canada geese
- Mallards
- Ring necked pheasants
The pheasants were interesting. I normally see them strolling along the verges of tall grassy areas. This time they were in fast flight from snow covered field to concealing shrubbery.
There was also this hillside covered in Canada geese and mallards:
They were clearly foraging, but for what I don’t know. 
Omnipresent starlings
Moose at a haystack. 
Fun afternoon, I’ll have to try it again soon. I have a lead on where I can find more of those wild turkeys, maybe get a better picture… – Jenny
BlueRavenBirders 