Home to cold little chickadee toes on my fingers! And a Red-bellied Woodpecker showed up to ease the transition from Florida to the frozen northland. Total miles on the trip: 4309 (plus the miles with Mike McDowell). Total species for the month: 186.
Greg Neise posted on facebook last night that a Barnacle Goose had been seen yesterday on Lake Bloomington in McLean County in Illinois. Today seemed like a good day for geese, especially after I saw a handful of Snow Geese (new for the year) not far from the Kentucky/Illinois border. And turns out my GPS was sending me right past an exit just a few miles from where it was seen. There was a lot of bad weather before and behind me, but when I got to Bloomington, it was just cold and blustery, not raining or snowing, so off I went on my wild goose chase.
No luck on the Barnacle Goose, but added two more geese to my year list, and met a couple of really nice birders who’d been searching for the Barnacle Goose all day. So I’m very glad I made the stop even though I got skunked on the bird I was searching for. I had a long way to go still, but made it home in one piece before 10:30. New for year, bringing my total to 186: