January Birds

January was not as productive for bird species as I'd come to expect. Many birds typically seen in the city parks or in the waters along the coast seemed to have been missing in action.

To put my low January species number in perspective, last month I tallied 79 in the borough of Brooklyn. In January of 2011 I counted 90 species in Brooklyn. My count for January of 2010 was 102 species. Some of the winter species that I would have presumed to find during the first month of the year but didn't in 2012 are Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Black Scoter, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Merlin, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Winter Wren, American Pipit, Lapland Longspur, Snow Bunting and Pine Siskin.

It was not all bad news, however. I did manage to find three birds that aren't normally seen around Brooklyn - Bald Eagle, Northern Shrike and Common Raven. Over the last couple of days there were reports of three other unusual birds in Brooklyn - Barrow's Goldeneye, Razorbill and White-winged Crossbill. Let's hope they stick around until the weekend and that I can add them to my February bird list.

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NYS total: 82
Kings total: 79

1) Snow Goose (Coney Island Creek, 01/07/12)
2) Brant (Coney Island, 01/01/12)
3) Canada Goose (Coney Island, 01/01/12)
4) Mute Swan (Coney Island Creek, 01/02/12)
5) Gadwall (Coney Island Creek, 01/02/12)
6) American Wigeon (Coney Island Creek, 01/02/12)
7) American Black Duck (Coney Island Creek, 01/02/12)
8) Mallard (Coney Island Creek, 01/02/12)
9) Northern Shoveler (Prospect Park, 01/04/12)
10) Ring-necked Duck (Prospect Park, 01/17/12)
11) Greater Scaup (Coney Island Creek, 01/07/12)
12) Lesser Scaup (Pelham Bay Park, 01/22/12)
13) Long-tailed Duck (Coney Island, 01/01/12)
14) Bufflehead (Coney Island Creek, 01/02/12)
15) Common Goldeneye (Pelham Bay Park, 01/22/12)
16) Hooded Merganser (Prospect Park, 01/04/12)
17) Red-breasted Merganser (Coney Island, 01/01/12)
18) Ruddy Duck (Prospect Park, 01/04/12)

19) Red-throated Loon (Coney Island, 01/01/12)
20) Common Loon (Coney Island, 01/01/12)
21) Pied-billed Grebe (Coney Island Creek, 01/02/12)
22) Horned Grebe (Floyd Bennett Field, 01/07/12)
23) Red-necked Grebe (Coney Island, 01/01/12)

24) Northern Gannet (Coney Island, 01/01/12)
25) Double-crested Cormorant (Coney Island, 01/01/12)
26) Great Cormorant (Coney Island, 01/07/12)

27) Great Blue Heron (Coney Island Creek, 01/02/12)

28) Turkey Vulture (Coney Island Creek, 01/28/12)
29) Bald Eagle (Prospect Park, 01/18/12)
30) Northern Harrier (Floyd Bennett Field, 01/07/12)
31) Cooper's Hawk (Prospect Park, 01/04/12)
32) Red-shouldered Hawk (Pelham Bay Park, 01/22/12)
33) Red-tailed Hawk (Prospect Park, 01/04/12)
34) American Kestrel (Coney Island, 01/01/12)
35) Peregrine Falcon (Coney Island, 01/01/12)

36) American Coot (Prospect Park, 01/04/12)

37) Purple Sandpiper (Coney Island, 01/01/12)

38) Bonaparte's Gull (Coney Island, 01/01/12)
39) Ring-billed Gull (Coney Island, 01/01/12)
40) Herring Gull (Coney Island, 01/01/12)
41) Lesser Black-backed Gull (Coney Island, 01/02/12)
42) Great Black-backed Gull (Coney Island, 01/01/12)

43) Rock Pigeon (Coney Island, 01/01/12)
44) Mourning Dove (Prospect Park, 01/04/12)

45) Monk Parakeet (Green-Wood Cemetery, 01/14/12)

46) Great Horned Owl (Prospect Park, 01/04/12)
47) Long-eared Owl (Pelham Bay Park, 01/22/12)

48) Belted Kingfisher (Prospect Park, 01/10/12)

49) Red-bellied Woodpecker (Prospect Park, 01/04/12)
50) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Prospect Park, 01/03/12)
51) Downy Woodpecker (Prospect Park, 01/04/12)
52) Hairy Woodpecker (Prospect Park, 01/04/12)
53) Northern Flicker (Dead Horse Bay, 01/07/12)

54) Northern Shrike (Floyd Bennett Field, 01/08/12)

55) Blue Jay (Prospect Park, 01/04/12)
56) American Crow (Coney Island, 01/01/12)
57) Common Raven (Prospect Park, 01/11/12)

58) Horned Lark (Floyd Bennett Field, 01/08/12)

59) Black-capped Chickadee (Prospect Park, 01/04/12)
60) Tufted Titmouse (Prospect Park, 01/10/12)
61) White-breasted Nuthatch (Prospect Park, 01/04/12)
62) Brown Creeper (Prospect Park, 01/13/12)

63) Carolina Wren (Prospect Park, 01/04/12)

64) Hermit Thrush (Prospect Park, 01/18/12)
65) American Robin (Prospect Park, 01/10/12)

66) Northern Mockingbird (Coney Island Creek Park, 01/02/12)

67) European Starling (Coney Island, 01/01/12)

68) Orange-crowned Warbler (Prospect Park, 01/17/12)
69) Yellow-rumped Warbler (Floyd Bennett Field, 01/08/12)

70) American Tree Sparrow (Floyd Bennett Field, 01/07/12)
71) Chipping Sparrow (Green-Wood Cemetery, 01/14/12)
72) Fox Sparrow (Floyd Bennett Field, 01/08/12)
73) Song Sparrow (Prospect Park, 01/04/12)
74) Swamp Sparrow (Prospect Park, 01/17/12)
75) White-throated Sparrow (Prospect Park, 01/04/12)
76) Dark-eyed Junco (Prospect Park, 01/04/12)

77) Northern Cardinal (Coney Island Creek Park, 01/02/12)

78) Red-winged Blackbird (Prospect Park, 01/04/12)
79) Common Grackle (Prospect Park, 01/17/12)

80) House Finch (Prospect Park, 01/04/12)
81) American Goldfinch (Prospect Park, 01/04/12)

82) House Sparrow (Coney Island, 01/01/12)