I switched one of the meds I’m taking for the bronchitis thing to a strict antihistamine last night, and the new med knocked me out. So I got some much-needed sleep, but didn’t wake up until about 8:30 am. Today was the start of the Great Backyard Bird Count (http://gbbc.birdcount.org/get-started/) AND I needed to go out to get refills on some of my meds anyway, so I tried venturing out in the fresh air… a little bit.
I didn’t feel anywhere near strong enough to go for one of my 3-hour walks, but I still wanted some air and to see some birds, so I drove over to the Cosumnes River Preserve and drove around the farm roads that butt up against it. Last year, when I did the bird count, I only counted those species of which I got good photographs. This year, I counted whatever I saw whether I got a good photo of it or not. For the large flocks (like geese and Coots) I rounded off the numbers to 100. In the end, for the Backyard Bird Count today alone I saw 35 species that I could identify just from the car; thought I did pretty well for one location. I saw:
100 Greater White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons
20 Canada Goose Branta canadensis
10 Gadwall Anas strepera
16 American Wigeon Anas americana
25 Mallard Anas platyrhynchos
2 Cinnamon Teal Anas cyanoptera
26 Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata
20 Northern Pintail Anas acuta
4 Green-winged Teal Anas crecca
3 Great Egret Ardea alba
2 Snowy Egret Egretta thula
3 Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis
1 Sora Porzana carolina
100 American Coot Fulica americana
6 Sandhill Crane Grus canadensis
5 Black-necked Stilt Himantopus mexicanus
2 Killdeer Charadrius vociferus
3 Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca
6 Dunlin Calidris alpina
1 Long-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus scolopaceus
2 American Kestrel Falco sparverius
1 Prairie Falcon Falco mexicanus
3 Black Phoebe Sayornis nigricans
1 Say’s Phoebe Sayornis saya
1 Western Scrub-Jay Aphelocoma californica
3 Tree Swallow Tachycineta bicolor
2 Marsh Wren Cistothorus palustris
6 European Starling Sturnus vulgaris
3 Yellow-rumped Warbler Setophaga coronata
6 Golden-crowned Sparrow Zonotrichia atricapilla
2 Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia
50 Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus
10 Western Meadowlark Sturnella neglecta
50 Brewer’s Blackbird Euphagus cyanocephalus
15 House Finch Haemorhous mexicanus
I then headed home, stopped at the store to pick up some meds and a few other things, and collapsed for the rest of the day. I really think getting myself out into the fresh air helped. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow, though.
