So far 2025 has surprised me with the amount of new birds I’ve been able to add to my Lifer List in just the first few months of the year. A few of these species I had not really expected to find so that’s pretty exciting to me. The first new bird of the year was the Horned Lark. I haven’t really seen a lot of them around except for when it was pretty cold and snowy out. The next two species were some of the ones I didn’t think I’d find this far south, the White-winged Crossbill and Redpoll. These birds are typically found in Northern Minnesota, and I found them about as far south as you can get. I didn't get the best pictures, so I hope to find these birds again soon and get some better shots.
Horned Lark, White-winged Crossbill, Redpoll
Next up is the Brown Creeper. I was so excited to get some really great shots of this bird. They’re very fast and hard to spot, as the brown coloring really blends them in to the trees. Another bird I hadn't really expected to find was the Purple Finch. They don’t seem to be very common around me so I’m super happy to get this beauty on my list. Now for my nemesis, a duck. This is a horrible picture of a Common Goldeneye, and really left me wanting lol. Hopefully I can improve this one soon.
Brown Creeper, Purple Finch, Common Goldeneye
Snow Goose has been a bird I‘ve really been wanting to find for a while. They’re most commonly found in white plumage, but the few I have seen have been in the dark color morph and look really unique. At first I thought this Rusty Blackbird might have been a grackle. But upon closer inspection I noticed it was a bit smaller and the color was a lot different, so this was a cool find for me. Again I have a nemesis duck. These Canvasback ducks were so beautiful and this shot turned out a bit better than the Goldeneye at least. There‘s plenty of room for improvement with this one too, however!
Snow Goose, Rusty Blackbird, Canvasback
