On the day of the total eclipse, we were treated to some absolutely beautiful weather—crystal clear skies, perfect conditions, slightly cool temperatures—so we had quite a lot of birdie activity! This list reflects the activity in the 2.5 hours centered around eclipse totality.

• American crow
• American goldfinch
• American robin
• Belted kingfisher
• Blue jay
• Bonaparte’s gull
• Canada goose
• Carolina wren
• Common grackle
• Common raven
• Dark-eyed junco
• Downy woodpecker
• European starling
• Gadwall
• Great blue heron
• Hairy woodpecker
• House finch
• Mallard
• Northern cardinal
• Pine siskin
• Red-bellied woodpecker
• Ruffed grouse
• Snow goose
• Song sparrow
• Tufted titmouse
• Vesper sparrow

I had my act together this morning and started the Merlin sound recording nice and early (about 7:30a) and let it go for a couple hours. I was rewarded with 24 species identified by call or song!

• American crow
• American goldfinch
• American robin
• Black-capped chickadee
• Blue jay
• Brown creeper
• Canada goose
• Carolina wren
• Cedar waxwing
• Common grackle
• Downy woodpecker
• Eastern bluebird
• Golden-crowned kinglet
• Hairy woodpecker
• Hermit thrush
• House finch
• Northern cardinal
• Red crossbill
• Red-bellied woodpecker
• Red-winged blackbird
• Tufted titmouse
• White-breasted nuthatch
• White-throated sparrow
• Yellow-rumped warbler

The weather is warming up, here at the Manor, which means more sound recordings with Merlin from The Cornell Lab! I like to record the birdies in the backyard early in the day, whenever possible. That wasn’t the case today (started just after 10a), and between that and the early point of the season, the identified birds list is fairly short.

• Black-capped chickadee
• American crow
• Song sparrow
• House finch
• White-breasted nuthatch
• Eastern bluebird
• American goldfinch
• Tufted titmouse
• Golden-crowned kinglet
• Hairy woodpecker
• Downy woodpecker
• Dark-eyed junco