Welcome! - January 3, 2016

Welcome to Identification Strategy, our new birding blog. We post pictures of birds from around the Northeast Ohio region, along with our experiences in birding. Please comment and enjoy!

We had our first good snow today, as you can see from the lagoon.

Here's a shot of a red-bellied woodpecker, a year-round regular in the Northeast Ohio area. We often here them chattering to each other in the trees.

Another year-round resident of the area is the white-breasted nuthatch. This nuthatch managed to stay still long enough for these shots. 

The reservation has a variety of wildlife beyond birds, including beavers.

These black-capped chickadees are one of my favorite types of birds. Known for being bold and brave around people, it's not unusual to have them fly around your head and even take seed from your outstretched hand!

 These Northern Cardinals are one of the most recognizable birds, and this bright red male (top) was flying around with several females (one seen in bottom photo).

This squirrel had the right idea. It was downright cold!

Here's another regular, the downy woodpecker, which is considerably smaller than the red-bellied woodpecker seen further above.

Part of the reservation includes part of the Lake Erie Birding Trail. Hopefully we will get to other parts of it this year! 

 Here is one of the more exciting identifications of the day, the dark-eyed junco, along with a female northern cardinal. Juncos are more shy than many other types of birds, so I had to utilize the great zoom of my new camera before he flew back into the bushes!

 Another shot of the junco.

Until next post!