Blooms along the hillside in the cold ground

We did some residential birding in the Chena Ridge area today. For the most part it was quiet with little action other than human life. Towards the end of our exploration we stumbled upon an area that was thick with life. We went from one species for the day (Common Raven) to eleven! We observed the social interactions of both Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers, as well as a Pine Grosbeak chasing a Red-breasted Nuthatch from his perch. This quarter mile stretch of life brought our yearly list to 121 with the addition of four new species (in bold below).

Common Raven

Black-billed Magpie

Gray Jay

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Black-capped Chickadee

Boreal Chickadee

Common Redpoll

Hoary Redpoll

Pine Grosbeak

#BigYear