1 January 2026

Are you starting a new Year List of the birds you’ve seen in 2026? I don’t usually bother with Year Lists but I like to play Last Bird / First Bird.

My Last Bird of 2025 would have been a rare bird if I’d seen it in Pittsburgh but we are visiting family in Kutztown, PA which is in the Eastern Flyway. Thus at 8:30pm I heard a small flock of snow geese (Anser caerulescens) flying over in the dark.

This recording of a much larger flock is more than I heard but the “yaow” sounds are diagnostic.

For First Bird of 2026 I tried to find the snow geese in the field across the way. None there, probably because there was a fierce 15-minute snow squall at 4:05am and the wind is still very strong. But as I looked at that field, seven starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) flew over it. Oh well.

What was your last bird of 2025? Your first of 2026?

Wishing you a happy, healthy new year full of birds!