Isaac and I had been planning to do a big day on this road for nearly a year now.  We had wanted to do it in early June but several unplanned events pushed it back to June 16.  Our goal was 100 species in one day on one road (15 kms) but in the end we ran out of species at 99….  We birded together from 4:45 am to 12:45 am the next morning with an hour break midday.  The birding ranged from covering everything well a couple of times to target birding and putting ourselves in the best places at the best times for certain species.  Highlights from the nearly 20 hours spent on the road included: Isaac finding an American Three-toed Woodpecker nest, a young Bull Moose, begging young Northern Saw-whet Owls, a Pacific Wren, etc…   Personal new species for the road included American Three-toed Woodpecker, Pacific Wren, and Common Poorwill.  Notable misses included Hairy Woodpecker, Bald Eagle, Cooper’s Hawk, Wilson’s Warbler, and American Crow but, believe me, it wasn’t for lack of trying.  We enjoyed excellent weather (overcast in the morning and clearing in the afternoon) and great nocturnal conditions with almost no wind.  Upon waking up this morning, I noticed a Bald Eagle flaying over, American Crows calling, and a Merlin sounding off at its usual place from my yard.  All three of those would have put us over the hump and I live only a 10 minute drive from Goose Lake Road.  In the end, we had a great time and will now start planning next year’s big day with knowledge gained from this year.

Complete list from the 20 hours below.  Exact numbers hard to determine because they weren’t all on one ebird checklist.

Canada Goose

Blue-winged Teal

Cinnamon Teal

Northern Shoveler

Gadwall

American Wigeon

Mallard

Green-winged Teal

Ring-necked Duck

Lesser Scaup

Bufflehead

Barrow’s Goldeneye

Ruddy Duck

Horned Grebe – 4

Rock Pigeon

Eurasian Collared-dove

Common Nighthawk

Common Poorwill – 1

Calliope Hummingbird

Virgina Rail – 2

Sora – 2

Killdeer

Wilson’s Snipe

Spotted Sandpiper

Turkey Vulture

Northern Harrier

Swainson’s Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Great Horned Owl

Northern Saw-whet Owl

Red-naped Sapsucker

American Three-toed Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

American Kestrel

Peregrine Falcon

Olive-sided Flycatcher

Western Wood-pewee

Willow Flycatcher

Hammond’s Flycatcher

Dusky Flycatcher

Say’s Phoebe

Eastern Kingbird

Western Kingbird

Cassin’s Vireo

Warbling Vireo

Black-billed Magpie

Common Raven

Black-capped Chickadee

Mountain Chickadee

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Tree Swallow

Violet-green Swallow

Barn Swallow

Cliff Swallow

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Brown Creeper – 1

House Wren

Pacific Wren – 1

Marsh Wren

European Starling

Gray Catbird

Mountain Bluebird

Townsend’s SolitaireVeery

Swainson’s Thrush

Hermit Thrush

American Robin

Cedar Waxwing

House Sparrow

Evening Grosbeak

House Finch

Cassin’s Finch

Red Crossbill

Pine Siskin

American Goldfinch

Chipping Sparrow

Clay-coloured Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Vesper Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Lincoln’s Sparrow

Western Meadowlark

Bullock’s Oriole

Red-winged Blackbird

Brewer’s Blackbird

Orange-crowned Warbler

MacGillivray’s Warbler

Townsend’s Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Western Tanager

 

 

Mammal List:

Moose 1

Mule Deer between 20-30

Coyote – saw 1 heard many after dark

Yellow-bellied Marmot 3

Yellow-pine Chipmunk 3

Red Squirrel 3