Check out what everyone saw in our combined trip report! ua-cam.com/video/crnVil_aTps/v-deo.htmlsi=OmT15nkTw2boyZcC Check out other videos from our subscribers taking on challenges we've created: ua-cam.com/play/PLbgyA8z-xsAVEkh-Iefwrv538TCpCpWWY.html&si=44LtLMiaWc1IR_W6
Excellent birding lads, happy 2025! Also, it tickles me that a bird that's common and normal to me in the Old World, the White Wagtail, is such a rarity there. Then again, whenever one of your Setophaga warblers show up where i live in Europe, the local birders and myself go nuts for it. Cheers to another year enjoying birds and nature!
I ran into Candy and Rush too!!! So cool to meet a UA-cam famous person. 😂 My FOY was Chickadee (heard) and downy (seen). Almost went the whole day without even seeing a HOSP but I did get one in my yard and birding all day. 😔
Awesome! Especially the wagtail & snowy owl!! Your First of the Year challenges are some of my favorite of your videos & have inspired me to do this every year on the first as well. This year, I only had 3 hours to bird in my hometown & ended with 52 species!! And Lincoln's Sparrow was my first of the year bird.
It was nice meeting you both that day! Thanks for helping me find the White Wagtail. I went back to the park after the Pier and it flew in and made about 15 of us extremely happy! I'm glad you found the Snowy. You also hit a lot of the places that I like to go. Fun video!
Oh, hey, it was snowing here too. Only got 38 that day, but it was my highest count for the first of the year. Still surprised that it took me 5 days into the year to get a crow. Always fun seeing the first of the year video. I kept checking my UA-cam notifications for it. :D
You guys put on such a good show especially for your New Year Birding I love it , as far as my first Bird of the year that's my Lincoln's Sparrow that's in my yard I love seeing that little Buddy .
Good morning 🌅 to the both of you from Hong Kong 🇭🇰 SAR. it’s such a great moment to wake up so early in the morning to hear and to see Canadian Geese flying overhead in formation. 👍👍👍👍👍👍
Great video, guys. Really captured the fun of January 1st. Our Jan 1st birding day in UK was accompanied by heavy winds and rain 😂 Here's to a big year list.
From Winnipeg. First of the year: common raven. Got eight birds only on my first day, but it was a tad colder (-20C or so). But that includes two snowy owls and a northern shrike. Got a kingfisher last year on Jan. 1, which was insane for Manitoba, but there was some open water and it was a fairly mild December. The bird vanished in the weeks after, so I hope it got away from the cold.
such a great collection of birds all throughout the day. Also it snowing really did add to the impact, snowy owl in the snow 💯. We got 45 for our half day outing here in PA, the majority at our first stop for waterfowl, it was very windy though and lots of hunters were out so the other areas weren't as successful. Could have picked up a few more like a Long Tailed duck I had seen the day before that was still hanging around but I was happy with it.
There have been many years where the first bird we’ve seen has been something like a House Sparrow or crow. Really happy to hear that you look forward to the video. We enjoy making it for you!
Congrats! I won't go out in the cold. That is just not for me. But I did have a time right out of the kitchen window. Several Northern Flickers, (yellow shafted), a few Blue Jays, a Mourning Dove, a couple of Cardinals (male and female) and a few American Robins. I may have seen a Dark Eyed Junco too, but can't verify That entailed about 5 minutes of birding from the kitchen window! I happened to see outside when they were all here obviously looking for water as they pecked at the ice in my many bird baths. I hope I get inspired to go out ore often this coming spring and summer, when it's warmer outside.
No Hooded Mergansers? There's a pair of them in the pond at our local city park through most of the winter, and it can be fun to watch them dive underwater and come up with a fish that looks too big for them to swallow. I assume they must be relatively common around the Great Lakes.
They're somewhat difficult to find here in the winter time. we got one on the first of the year in 2024 but not this time :/ Really cool bird though, one of my favorite ducks.
My first bird of 2025 was a common raven identified in southern NY! This was a remarkable event because they are uncommon north of the NYC area and this part of the country is not considered to be in their range. They have been expanding northward so I'm sure they'll be established round here pretty soon, those clever little whippersnappers. But still, for the first of the year to be a raven in New York felt like a good omen!
Hi, again. I had done some searches online about the Wagtails species, and according to the latest findings from the IUCN, they indicated that the Wagtail species : Pied-Wagtails, Japanese Wagtails, White Wagtails, and Grey Wagtails are all clumped together as ONE single bird. Kindly please 🙏 inform me if you disagree with the IUCN information.
We actually aren't terribly familiar with the wagtail taxonomy since they aren't regularly in the continental US. from what I'm seeing it appears they may be separate still? I'm not really sure though
I made a lot o the same stops you guys did on my New Years Big Day, I also missed SEOW at Killsnake that evening (seriously, how does that happen lol). I got a total of 42.
It seems a lot of people were perplexed that they didn’t make an appearance! I guess sometimes they’re just busy lol I bet they came out but probably well after dark
I had to play that back, really white/pied wagtail rarest? See them all the time in uk, and bird i photographed a few times but see them all the time. Guess this goes to show something incredibly common in one country can be rare elsewhere. Best place to see wagtail is on farmlands/wetlands 110% i see them around them all the time in them locations
Yup! That’s one of the interesting aspects of birding. It all depends on location. Just like if a yellow warbler shows up in the uk. Super common here but causes a stir there
@BadgerlandBirding yeah we had a yellow browned warbler here it gathered quite the crowd, I never actually saw it though. I'm currently on a mission to photograph every bird in the uk/what visits the uk. Got two (one i photographed a few times before, redwing,) but seeing the two visitors together today I had to get the shot of both of them together (fieldfare and redwing)
This was awesome, thank you! I always just lived in the moment while birding and avoided the internet. I'm learning that so many bird lovers like my self exist and maybe I should document more of my area. Even a top quality new phone isn't enough to get the quality film I want. Any reccomendations on a camera/lense that is a "best quality per dollar" ?
@@BadgerlandBirding If a few grand isn't enough I'll be patient and save up. It's just overwhelming with the amount of options and brand loyalty. After watching a film on hummingbirds up close in slow motion I'm at awe and found an entirely new hobby inside of my existing hobby. 😂
Check out what everyone saw in our combined trip report! ua-cam.com/video/crnVil_aTps/v-deo.htmlsi=OmT15nkTw2boyZcC
Check out other videos from our subscribers taking on challenges we've created: ua-cam.com/play/PLbgyA8z-xsAVEkh-Iefwrv538TCpCpWWY.html&si=44LtLMiaWc1IR_W6
Great video
What app do you use?
Excellent birding lads, happy 2025! Also, it tickles me that a bird that's common and normal to me in the Old World, the White Wagtail, is such a rarity there. Then again, whenever one of your Setophaga warblers show up where i live in Europe, the local birders and myself go nuts for it. Cheers to another year enjoying birds and nature!
I think we'll have to make some trades. We'll give you more warblers if you give us more wagtails!
@BadgerlandBirding we have a looot of Yellow Wagtail subspecies to give you 😂
I ran into Candy and Rush too!!! So cool to meet a UA-cam famous person. 😂 My FOY was Chickadee (heard) and downy (seen). Almost went the whole day without even seeing a HOSP but I did get one in my yard and birding all day. 😔
Candy and Rush are great!!
Great show, Kingfisher was quite the surprise. happy new year!
It really was! Happy new year to you too!
Awesome! Especially the wagtail & snowy owl!! Your First of the Year challenges are some of my favorite of your videos & have inspired me to do this every year on the first as well. This year, I only had 3 hours to bird in my hometown & ended with 52 species!! And Lincoln's Sparrow was my first of the year bird.
Strawberry Lane sounds like a lucky street for birding. Seeing 50 species is excellent.
It was such a lucky place! It was funny because we only saw three birds there but all three were new for the day and three were rare!
This was fun to watch. Congrats on the Wagtail! 🎉🎉🎉
@@cathco9 thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
Congrats on hitting 50 species! Hope you find some awesome birds in 2025!
@@brighteyedbirding thanks!
Happy new year boys! This video has inspired me to get back into birding again
The ultimate compliment! Thanks so much for watching. Glad we could get you out there again
It was nice meeting you both that day! Thanks for helping me find the White Wagtail. I went back to the park after the Pier and it flew in and made about 15 of us extremely happy! I'm glad you found the Snowy. You also hit a lot of the places that I like to go. Fun video!
@@littlerapidsphotography2554 great meeting you too! Glad the Wagtail cooperated more later!
Such a fun video to watch! Congrats on hitting 50!
Thanks so much, John! Really glad you enjoyed it!
Oh, hey, it was snowing here too. Only got 38 that day, but it was my highest count for the first of the year. Still surprised that it took me 5 days into the year to get a crow. Always fun seeing the first of the year video. I kept checking my UA-cam notifications for it. :D
Sometimes those crows can be elusive! It took forever to edit because of how much video we had!
congratulations guys on your big day. i always look forward to this video every year.
Thanks, Todd! We always enjoy making it for everyone!
You guys put on such a good show especially for your New Year Birding I love it , as far as my first Bird of the year that's my Lincoln's Sparrow that's in my yard I love seeing that little Buddy .
@@garymeredith2441 thanks, Gary! Lincoln’s is a great first bird!
Thank you for that fun video. I loved every minute of it!
Glad you enjoyed it! Kudos to you for getting through all of it lol
My personal favorite New Year’s Eve bird is the snowy owl
It’s always a treat to see a Snowy!
It’s always a great one to get!
All U birders R great! Love what U do! HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Thank you! And happy new year to you as well!
Good morning 🌅 to the both of you from Hong Kong 🇭🇰 SAR. it’s such a great moment to wake up so early in the morning to hear and to see Canadian Geese flying overhead in formation. 👍👍👍👍👍👍
It was a very fun moment! We were still up from the day before! lol
Great video, guys. Really captured the fun of January 1st.
Our Jan 1st birding day in UK was accompanied by heavy winds and rain 😂 Here's to a big year list.
Thanks for watching! Sounds like both of our first of the year trips had some nasty precipitation.
You guys really nailed it! Great " hunt" to start a new year!!!!!
Thanks so much! It’s always a good time making the video for you!
@BadgerlandBirding much appreciated.
My first bird of the year at 12:10 am. on January 1st. was a Western Screech Owl. I did a video on my San Diego Bird Guide Facebook page.
@@markdayton6759 great first bird!
Great video! I only saw 12 species on New Year's Day here in the UK because it rained hard all day.
I had a two lifer New Years Day- northern shrike and long eared owl :) Happy new year yall!
@@lisamorrowpeculiar that’s awesome! Happy New Year!
From Winnipeg.
First of the year: common raven.
Got eight birds only on my first day, but it was a tad colder (-20C or so). But that includes two snowy owls and a northern shrike.
Got a kingfisher last year on Jan. 1, which was insane for Manitoba, but there was some open water and it was a fairly mild December. The bird vanished in the weeks after, so I hope it got away from the cold.
Quality > Quantity
Great day for you guys! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for watching!
I was cheering when you found the White Wagtail 😅 Great video guys. Decent species count and some real species quality to boot!
Thank you! We were looking back at how many easy species we missed but you only have so much daylight, especially in the winter. ❄️
such a great collection of birds all throughout the day. Also it snowing really did add to the impact, snowy owl in the snow 💯. We got 45 for our half day outing here in PA, the majority at our first stop for waterfowl, it was very windy though and lots of hunters were out so the other areas weren't as successful. Could have picked up a few more like a Long Tailed duck I had seen the day before that was still hanging around but I was happy with it.
Sounds like you still had a really solid day!
I look forward to this video. I’m not as accomplished as you both. I’m pretty sure my first of the year bird was a ring-billed gull.
There have been many years where the first bird we’ve seen has been something like a House Sparrow or crow. Really happy to hear that you look forward to the video. We enjoy making it for you!
Happy new year appreciate your channel
Thank you! Happy New Year to you too!
Congrats! I won't go out in the cold. That is just not for me. But I did have a time right out of the kitchen window. Several Northern Flickers, (yellow shafted), a few Blue Jays, a Mourning Dove, a couple of Cardinals (male and female) and a few American Robins. I may have seen a Dark Eyed Junco too, but can't verify That entailed about 5 minutes of birding from the kitchen window! I happened to see outside when they were all here obviously looking for water as they pecked at the ice in my many bird baths. I hope I get inspired to go out ore often this coming spring and summer, when it's warmer outside.
Nothing wrong with some window birding!
Did not expect the golden eagle
Neither did we. It felt like a totally random sighting!
No Hooded Mergansers? There's a pair of them in the pond at our local city park through most of the winter, and it can be fun to watch them dive underwater and come up with a fish that looks too big for them to swallow. I assume they must be relatively common around the Great Lakes.
They're somewhat difficult to find here in the winter time. we got one on the first of the year in 2024 but not this time :/ Really cool bird though, one of my favorite ducks.
Fun one you guys!
Thank you! And thanks for watching!
My first bird of 2025 was a common raven identified in southern NY! This was a remarkable event because they are uncommon north of the NYC area and this part of the country is not considered to be in their range. They have been expanding northward so I'm sure they'll be established round here pretty soon, those clever little whippersnappers. But still, for the first of the year to be a raven in New York felt like a good omen!
Wow that’s awesome! What a great bird to start out with!
I was so hyped for this lol
Love it! 🔥
My first bird of the year was a carolina wren on my suet feeder :)
That’s a pretty cool one! Wanna trade that one for our goose sighting? :p
From my experience short-eared owls only come when you aren't expecting them.
@@Shrock568 they’re normally reliable at a few places by us! But sadly not on the 1st
I would love to see a snowy owl one day
It’s an irruption year for them so there are more than usual down south!
I did a big day with a couple of friends on Merrit Island NWR and got 130 species. I'm not beating that anytime soon
Wow! 130 is great! Congrats!
My first this year was great tailed grackle in New Braunfels TX
That is a very Texas bird to start out with lol
Hi, again. I had done some searches online about the Wagtails species, and according to the latest findings from the IUCN, they indicated that the Wagtail species : Pied-Wagtails, Japanese Wagtails, White Wagtails, and Grey Wagtails are all clumped together as ONE single bird. Kindly please 🙏 inform me if you disagree with the IUCN information.
We actually aren't terribly familiar with the wagtail taxonomy since they aren't regularly in the continental US. from what I'm seeing it appears they may be separate still? I'm not really sure though
@ Good morning to both of you from Hong Kong 🇭🇰 SAR. Thank you for your feedback 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏about 彈劾Wagtails。
I made a lot o the same stops you guys did on my New Years Big Day, I also missed SEOW at Killsnake that evening (seriously, how does that happen lol). I got a total of 42.
It seems a lot of people were perplexed that they didn’t make an appearance! I guess sometimes they’re just busy lol I bet they came out but probably well after dark
What app do you use?
For recording sightings or for where to find birds?
Where to find birds
We use ebird. It has things like rare bird lists, year needs lists, and you can search by species!
And recording sightings I just want to know like with the snowy owl like someone said that that was there
Ebird! Here’s a tutorial all about it!
ua-cam.com/video/Woe_Q6S8oyw/v-deo.htmlsi=t47FzdVmjoQA-jnA
I had to play that back, really white/pied wagtail rarest? See them all the time in uk, and bird i photographed a few times but see them all the time. Guess this goes to show something incredibly common in one country can be rare elsewhere. Best place to see wagtail is on farmlands/wetlands 110% i see them around them all the time in them locations
Yup! That’s one of the interesting aspects of birding. It all depends on location. Just like if a yellow warbler shows up in the uk. Super common here but causes a stir there
@BadgerlandBirding yeah we had a yellow browned warbler here it gathered quite the crowd, I never actually saw it though. I'm currently on a mission to photograph every bird in the uk/what visits the uk. Got two (one i photographed a few times before, redwing,) but seeing the two visitors together today I had to get the shot of both of them together (fieldfare and redwing)
This was awesome, thank you! I always just lived in the moment while birding and avoided the internet. I'm learning that so many bird lovers like my self exist and maybe I should document more of my area. Even a top quality new phone isn't enough to get the quality film I want. Any reccomendations on a camera/lense that is a "best quality per dollar" ?
All my photos look like your rough legged hawk photo 😅
lol 🤣
What’s your price range?
@@BadgerlandBirding If a few grand isn't enough I'll be patient and save up. It's just overwhelming with the amount of options and brand loyalty. After watching a film on hummingbirds up close in slow motion I'm at awe and found an entirely new hobby inside of my existing hobby. 😂
I went birding on new year’s and found a Japanese green woodpecker
That’s awesome! Please send one of those our way lol
First bird of the year was a Northern Mockingbird.
That’s a good one!
Female or male for the snowy? I thought it was a female at first, maybe a male because females are usually much darker.