Middlesex Biggish Year: April Update

Four months into my Middlesex Biggish Year! April is always an exiting time of year, and this past one was no exception. This past month I have added 42 species to my year list, which now stands at 154, or about 85% of the birds recorded in Middlesex this year. Nothing immediately sticks out as a "major miss", although Red-shouldered Hawk still evaded me—it might have to wait until the fall now! I also managed to see one of my outstanding targets, basically my only remaining one from the first few months of the year...Lapland Longspur! Finches still haven't really come through yet, so still holding out for some Evening Grosbeaks. 

The breakdown:

Code 1: 103 species (27 new)

Code 2: 34 species (13 new)

Code 3: 12 species (2 new)

Code 4: 3 species

Code 5: 2 species

Plenty of code 1 species were recorded this month, most of them typical April migrants with several warbler species, a few shorebirds, all of the swallows (other than Purple Martin), and some sparrows

Black-throated Green Warbler

Field Sparrow

As for the code 2 species, Lapland Longspur was a highlight, as well as a couple of the more uncommon shorebirds such as Wilson's Snipe and Least Sandpiper, as well as a Bonaparte's Gulls and a Caspian Tern. Some nice birds! 

Lapland Longspur

Code 3 additions were comprised of two species: American Bittern and Eastern Whip-poor-will. The bittern was a bit of a relief, it was in the same spot I had one in 2018 and 2020. Unlike last year however, it only seemed to stick around for a day—or its just good at hiding! The whip-poor-will was another great addition, a new Middlesex bird for me. 

Eastern Whip-poor-will

Well, that's all she wrote for April. Time for the most exciting and most anticipated month of the year— May! Should be plenty of year birds to come. I'm having a lot of fun birding around the county, and that's why I'm doing this!