12 different species today - Turkey Vulture

It was a sunny yet bitterly windy in Woodstock today. There were still a great variety of birds in my backyard however. Before lunch I saw the following;

31 Canadian Geese flying overhead
7 American Crows
11 Rock Pigeons
5 Black-capped Chickadees
1 Common Redpoll
2 American Goldfinches
1 American Robin (saw the first one of Spring just yesterday)


Around supper things started to get interesting however as a Turkey Vulture (picture below) flew overhead and then a large flock of blackbirds showed up.

42 Common Grackles
8 European Starlings
2 Red-winged Blackbirds (first of the Spring for my backyard)

A Sharp-shinned Hawk swooped in to try to get at the blackbirds. This was the first one I've ever seen in my backyard or anywhere for that matter. I didn't get a picture, but I was just pleased to be able to identify it. A hawk flew in to get at the Rock Pigeons in the morning, but I didn't get a close enough look. After seeing it again, I was sure it was a Sharp-shinned Hawk (I saw the square tail as it flew away and it wasn't that much bigger than the pigeons).