Photo courtesy of Lynn Seman
Every January 1st, the state parks host 1st Day Hikes. I attended the hikes at Lake Arrowhead State Park. It was a beautiful, although chilly, day. Bright sunshine and a relatively light wind made it seem warmer.
The earlier hike was on the Dragonfly Trail and the later one on the North Onion Creek Trail. In between there was a gap of time that I used to bird other areas of the park. The earlier hike was not as well attended as the later one (go figure!) As far as birds go, the day was not the best, but I still saw some good birds. In addition, I watched a couple of coyotes and some white-tailed deer.
Birds seen/heard included: Canada goose, gadwall, green-winged teal, northern pintail, northern shoveler, American coot, double-crested cormorant, great blue heron, killdeer, ladder-backed woodpecker, black vulture, Carolina chickadee, common yellowthroat, Loggerhead shrike, song sparrow, savannah sparrow, white-crowned sparrow, and a flock of meadowlarks. The meadowlarks could have been eastern or western as both occur in our area.
On the way home, I picked up an American kestrel.
Plan now for next year. Pick a park and plan to attend one of the hikes. The various hikes are at different times (to include beginning at midnight!), lengths, and difficulty.
Good birding!
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