Day 1: January 1, 2012

Clear skies, calm winds, 52 degrees

     It’s the first day of the new year and the first installment of the “Image a Day” project.  Beginning with today, I will make the attempt to capture at least one image of the natural world for the next 365 consecutive days…and what a day it is to begin.  Here we are officially in winter with bright sunny skies and temperatures in the 50’s.  The winds are virtually non-existent, and it feels much more like the beginning of spring than winter.  But, we had to expect this.  After all, the entire fall was unusually warm with only one freak snowstorm back when the leaves were still on the trees.  The warm weather has left us with an uncommonly low number of song birds visiting us from the north.   Recent Christmas Counts from around the region support this observation with record low numbers.  Will the weather suddenly change and bring us a more typical New York winter?  Only time will tell.

      Nonetheless, today is one of new beginnigs.  The year 2011 was pretty productive with a year list topping out at 330 North American species, 13 more than the previous high.  Today, however, the slate is wiped clean and we start anew.  The honors of First of the Year goes to the Tufted titmouse which was singing its song as I walked by daughter’s dog Lassie around the property.  

Tufted titmouse - First bird of 2012

     The titmouse was soon joined by Bluejays, Downey woodpeckers, House sparrows and a White-breasted nuthatch which looked as if it was just returning from a New Year’s eve outing, dressed in his finest ensemble.

Downey woodpecker

       A ride up to nearby Cragston Lake provided a number of Mallards and a Belted kingfisher for the 2012 Year List, but other than these birds, the ponds were quiet. 

The lily pond at Cragston Lake

     The year is full of promise with a major birding trip to Montana planned for June as well as journeys to such birding meccas as the Everglades, Adirondacks, Magee Marsh in Ohio, and an international jaunt to New Zealand and Australia.  I’ll try to post the images and notes on a daily basis, so all our family and friends can “join” us on our trips.  Here’s looking forward to a Great New Year!