I had been wanting to do some birding over the Christmas break, but the local CBC happened the day I was driving back from college, and I started working full-time right after that. This morning, however, I accidentally woke up early. So, I decided to make the best of that unfortunate circumstance and go see if any birds were around in our backyard forest.

The world was still as I made my way along the frost-covered ground of our nature trail, heading toward the back clearing. Well, mostly still. A few calls I didn’t recognized mingled with the distant sounds of cars, dogs, and even a train whistle. I enjoyed the chilly quiet.

As I neared the clearing, I finally saw some movement in the trees and was able to catch a glimpse of my first bird of the morning, a Red-bellied Woodpecker. I continued to the clearing where I was greeted by another Red-bellied Woodpecker. As I started walking to the far side of the clearing, a lone Canada Goose flew overhead, issuing regular honks as it passed. I could hear some of its friends in the distance, but they never showed themselves.

The next thing I saw wasn’t a bird, but a White-tailed Deer. I could barely make it out through the trees, and it scampered off before I had a chance to grab my binoculars for a closer look. White-tailed Deer are pretty common in the area, much to the delight of hunters. I hoped that the shouts I could hear from our neighbors in the distance didn’t indicate another “accidental” hunting expedition on our land…

As I continued my journey to the other side of the clearing, I saw quite a few more Red-bellied Woodpeckers. Two American Crows passed, cawing, overhead. On a scraggly branch sticking out of the top of a nearby dead tree, I saw what I thought to be two Red-bellied Woodpeckers, but as I looked closer, I noticed their bellies were spotted. I think they were Northern Flickers, but they flew away before I could get a very good view.

By this time, I had reached the edge of the clearing, so I started to head back. On my way, one Red-bellied Woodpecker was kind enough to forage for food on a tree very close to where I was standing. His brilliant red crown was amazing to see up close.

Nothing else caught my eye, so I started back toward home. As I neared the entrance of the trail, I briefly saw a small group of Black-capped Chickadees. However, they didn’t seem too interested in letting me get a good view, and my fingers were chilled from the sub-thirty degree weather, and I decided to go back inside.