Went owling before the count and was able to get/call in 2 Great Horned Owls, 2 Barred Owls, and 1 Screech Owl, all of them from the park property, which is not always easy - off to good start.
The morning started out very slow (a little cold), but as the day got later, the birds got better.
There was no tally, so I do not know what others groups may have. I know ours had some good birds.
Some pictures from the day:
Sandhill Cranes in Salt Air (name of small town),
I spotted a distant raptor that looked different from the many kestrels we were seeing (both a good thing). We stopped, got closer looks and confirmed a Merlin (also later saw bird in flight). This was outside of Bethel on country roads. Not a good photo, but better than my other pic of a merlin that was right in front of me (my old crappy camera).
Many raptors. Some of our group's better birds were:
1 Rusty Blackbird
Sandhill Cranes
A Merlin
Harriers
A male Purple Finch
2 Fox Sparrows
May be missing something. Tweet
