Thought I'd do one last Birdy 30 for the year, and came up with one of my best totals yet --16 species in 30 minutes.

Highlights included a Red-breasted Nuthatch who hung around for the entire half-hour. With Lake Appert frozen and no waterfowl to be had, I thought 16 was pretty good.

And tomorrow I get to start with a clean slate, I hope RB Nut hangs around awhile.
Full list follows. Celery Farm, Bergen, New Jersey, US
Dec 31, 2016 12:11  - 12:41 PM
Protocol: Stationary
Comments:     Birdy 30
16 species

Red-tailed Hawk  X
Mourning Dove  X
Red-bellied Woodpecker  X
Downy Woodpecker  X
Blue Jay  X
Black-capped Chickadee  X
Tufted Titmouse  X
Red-breasted Nuthatch  X
White-breasted Nuthatch  X
Dark-eyed Junco  X
White-throated Sparrow  X
Song Sparrow  X
Northern Cardinal  X
House Finch  X
American Goldfinch  X
House Sparrow  X

This time of year, folks typically think of future travel.

In case you are thinking of going to Cuba or the Galapagos, I thought I'd post the links to the Record columns and  free on-line e-books I did on those two destinations in 2016.

Neither place can compare with the Celery Farm, of course, but they are both amazing.

My column on the Galapagos is here.

The link to the free 56-page Galapagos e-book (complete with awesome, audible page-turning software) is here.

(An index of the book's photos is on pages 54-55.)

My  column on Cuba is here.

A link to my free on-line Cuba e-book (with that same awesome page-turning software, complete with sound effects) is here.

Happy New Year!

On Monday I asked if anyone could identify the above hawk in  photo sent  from the Andes in Chile.

I had narrowed it to a few suspects before going with Kevin Watson's answer-- White-throated Hawk.

More on White-throated Hawks here.

A big thank you to everyone who pondered the mysteries in 2016!

My latest column for The Record is about my old stomping ground, DeKorte Park in the Meadowlands, where Bergen County Audubon and the NJSEA are holding a free walk this Sunday at 10 a.m. 

(Not sure if the Lapland Longspur, above, is still around; guess we'll find out.)

A link to the column is here.

A friend sent along this photo of a hawk from the Andes in Chile. Can you identify it for him?