Andy's "Green Birding" Big Year

Gloomy, wet, and dreary. Perfect day for a ride? I hope that anyone reading this is having a peaceful and warm holiday season! Mine has been a good one so far. Mostly staying close to home and spending time with family and friends. Can't go wrong there.  All that said, I've been hoping for one more chance to get on the bike before 2025 comes to a close. The warmer weather has cleared off the road shoulders enough to make things safe enough to ride. But there haven't been many birds around since the weather turned...until today!  You may recall me mentioning a Eurasian Tree Sparrow that somebody found at their bird feeders earlier in the month, while the weather was totally inhospitable. It was seen by many for several days, but the reports stopped on Dec. 13th. As the holidays got closer and the weather became more bike-friendly, I posted on a birding chat group asking if anyone had seen it since the 13th. Several days passed with no response - until this morning. The bird ...

Much like this puffed-up Dark-eyed Junco on a -13 degree morning, I've been lying low. For now.  Well, the weather door has largely been slammed shut since my last post. Since December started, it's been a lot of snow, ice, and brutally cold temperatures - with temperatures dropping double digits below zero (Fahrenheit) on multiple occasions. Suffice it to say, I haven't been able to get back on my bike at all this month - ice and snow on road shoulders and bone chilling cold don't make for good biking weather. We did actually have something of a warm spell this week - but I've been sick with the nasty flu virus that's been going around, so anything involving movement was out of the question. I'm better now, thankfully.  The good (?) news is that other than a nearby Eurasian Tree Sparrow (7 miles each way - easy by bike, but too far to go by foot), there hasn't been anything that would be new for my birds-by-bike list the last month either. Open water is...