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

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

I shifted to a mid-morning recording time (9:30-11:00) and was rewarded with more bird species—21 altogether! All have been detected previously (either this year or in previous years).

• Black-capped chickadee
• Tufted titmouse
• Red-bellied woodpecker
• Northern cardinal
• Dark-eyed junco
• House finch
• House sparrow
• American crow
• White-breasted nuthatch
• Red crossbill
• American robin
• Downy woodpecker
• Eastern bluebird
• Song sparrow
• American goldfinch
• Hairy woodpecker
• Brown creeper
• Killdeer
• Blue jay
• Golden-crowned kinglet
• Pine siskin

I can’t wait for the weather to warm up enough to open the windows wide.