Gray Jay, Ruffed Grouse

I finally got a picture of a Gray Jay this week. My grandfather passed away last week so I went for a drive a few days ago to get my mind of things. It was perfect timing as I came across five Gray Jays all within the same area.

I had only ever found a Gray Jay once up until then and with five around, I had plenty of chances to get a decent picture. As I kept driving, there was a Ruffed Grouse right beside the road since it was so mild out. I didn't even have to get out of my car to get a picture of it.

I have started the year of well finding 28 different species so far. I ended the year at 162 so my goal will to find more than that this year!

Horned Lark, Woodstock Christmas Bird Count

I participated in my first Christmas Bird Count for Woodstock on December 31st. Charles Graves and I ended up finding 22 species. Here is my ebird checklist; http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S16150134

Woodstock was divided into 3 areas. We met together at the end of the day to discuss our findings. Today I went for a drive to go look for some of the species I haven't seen for a while, or at all, since I knew where I could look thanks to our meeting. One of the groups found some Horned Larks so I was pleased that they were still there today so that I could check that species off of my life list.