I'm reposting my list because I wanted to add a little narrative to it. My personal tradition is to spend New Years Day birding. I had family in town, so I ended up dragging them along with me. So it ended up not being the most productive New Years Day I've ever had. I decided to spend the day out at Cheney Reservoir, about 40 minutes west of Wichita. Seemed like a good place to get a variety of birds due to the varied habitats present along the lake shore. On the drive out there I picked up a couple of raptors.
1 Cooper's Hawk - Accipiter cooperii
2 American Kestrel - Falco sparverius
Once I got there, it wasn't as productive as I'd hoped. Perhaps because of the entourage that accompanied me, which left me quite distracted from the task at hand. We started on the west side hoping to find the roadrunner which is occasionally seen in that area. Alas it wasn't going to happen this time.
3 Eurasian Collared-Dove - Streptopelia decaocto
4 Ring-billed Gull - Larus delawarensis
5 American White Pelican - Pelecanus erythrorhynchos
6 Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus leucocephalus
7 Northern Flicker - Colaptes auratus
8 American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos
9 Black-capped Chickadee - Poecile atricapillus
10 Carolina Wren - Thryothorus ludovicianus
11 Eastern Bluebird - Sialia sialis
12 American Robin - Turdus migratorius
13 Dark-eyed Junco - Junco hyemalis
Moving over to the east side I was hoping for more waterfowl, but even those were pretty scarce. I only managed to pick up a small group of Common Goldeneye.
14 Common Goldeneye - Bucephala clangula
15 Northern Harrier - Circus hudsonius
16 Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis
17 Red-bellied Woodpecker - Melanerpes carolinus
18 European Starling - Sturnus vulgaris
19 American Goldfinch - Spinus tristis
20 American Tree Sparrow - Spizelloides arborea
The rest of the day was spent at a few local parks in Wichita. First stop was Cowskin Creek Water Reclamation Facility. This was supposed to have been a good waterfowl stop, and while waterfowl weren't completely absent, it wasn't the numbers I had hoped for. I did finally find a meadowlark that was singing so I could positively identify it to species level.
21 Northern Shoveler - Spatula clypeata
22 Gadwall - Mareca strepera
23 Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias
24 Eastern Meadowlark - Sturnella magna
Sedgwick County Park is a large park in northwest Wichita and it is also the location of Sedgwick County Zoo. There are numerous ponds and a creek that run through it. I decided to take a quick drive through the park on my way to the final destination of the day.
25 Rock Pigeon - Columba livia
26 Cackling Goose - Branta hutchinsii
27 Canada Goose - Branta canadensis
28 Wood Duck - Aix sponsa
29 Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos
Last stop for New Years Day was Chisholm Creek Park and Great Plains Nature Center. There are numerous trails that loop through a variety of habitats. This is one of the best birding locations in Wichita.
30 Downy Woodpecker - Dryobates pubescens
31 Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata
32 Yellow-rumped Warbler - Setophaga coronata
33 Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis
1 Eastern Fox Squirrel - Sciurus niger
2 White-tailed Deer - Odocoileus virginianus
1 Cooper's Hawk - Accipiter cooperii
2 American Kestrel - Falco sparverius
Once I got there, it wasn't as productive as I'd hoped. Perhaps because of the entourage that accompanied me, which left me quite distracted from the task at hand. We started on the west side hoping to find the roadrunner which is occasionally seen in that area. Alas it wasn't going to happen this time.
3 Eurasian Collared-Dove - Streptopelia decaocto
4 Ring-billed Gull - Larus delawarensis
5 American White Pelican - Pelecanus erythrorhynchos
6 Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus leucocephalus
7 Northern Flicker - Colaptes auratus
8 American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos
9 Black-capped Chickadee - Poecile atricapillus
10 Carolina Wren - Thryothorus ludovicianus
11 Eastern Bluebird - Sialia sialis
12 American Robin - Turdus migratorius
13 Dark-eyed Junco - Junco hyemalis
Moving over to the east side I was hoping for more waterfowl, but even those were pretty scarce. I only managed to pick up a small group of Common Goldeneye.
14 Common Goldeneye - Bucephala clangula
15 Northern Harrier - Circus hudsonius
16 Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis
17 Red-bellied Woodpecker - Melanerpes carolinus
18 European Starling - Sturnus vulgaris
19 American Goldfinch - Spinus tristis
20 American Tree Sparrow - Spizelloides arborea
The rest of the day was spent at a few local parks in Wichita. First stop was Cowskin Creek Water Reclamation Facility. This was supposed to have been a good waterfowl stop, and while waterfowl weren't completely absent, it wasn't the numbers I had hoped for. I did finally find a meadowlark that was singing so I could positively identify it to species level.
21 Northern Shoveler - Spatula clypeata
22 Gadwall - Mareca strepera
23 Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias
24 Eastern Meadowlark - Sturnella magna
Sedgwick County Park is a large park in northwest Wichita and it is also the location of Sedgwick County Zoo. There are numerous ponds and a creek that run through it. I decided to take a quick drive through the park on my way to the final destination of the day.
25 Rock Pigeon - Columba livia
26 Cackling Goose - Branta hutchinsii
27 Canada Goose - Branta canadensis
28 Wood Duck - Aix sponsa
29 Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos
Last stop for New Years Day was Chisholm Creek Park and Great Plains Nature Center. There are numerous trails that loop through a variety of habitats. This is one of the best birding locations in Wichita.
30 Downy Woodpecker - Dryobates pubescens
31 Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata
32 Yellow-rumped Warbler - Setophaga coronata
33 Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis
1 Eastern Fox Squirrel - Sciurus niger
2 White-tailed Deer - Odocoileus virginianus
