I was outside for two hours in the morning and an hour and a half in the afternoon, for a total of 30 species. I had 29 for the morning (eBird here), and it took me all that time in the afternoon (eBird here) before I could finally find another species–a very distant (3 miles) Red-tailed Hawk soaring and then landing on the hill to the north. Highlights were probably adding audio recordings of Pileated Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, and Canada Goose to the audio big year list.
This afternoon I also put out a new Heated Pet Bowl that I got this week (hat tip: Julie Zickefoose). Within half an hour of filling it and putting it on the edge of the patio, a male House Finch came down and took a drink (photo above). Looking forward to seeing what other birds come in for water in the sub-freezing temperatures, since I already have a small creek that is still flowing less than a hundred yards away.
