First birding of the year

I finally got out today for the first time this year and was able to get in a few hours of birding before it started to snow and the roads got a bit slippery.

I stopped by the visitor's center at the MN Valley NWR, Black Dog Lake, and a quick trip through Acacia Park Cemetery.  I did not see anything unusual but the first trip of the year is always nice because everything is new all over again.

First bird of 2009 - Red-tailed Hawk (ok, I have seen some house sparrows and pigeons but I wasn't looking for them and I didn't "look" at them so I am not counting them).

Surprise of the day - 11 Wild Turkeys at Acacia Cemetery.

Miss of the day - Northern Shrike (been seen at Black Dog).

Overall - 23 species seen today:

Canada Goose

Trumpter Swan

Mallard

Common Goldeneye

Common Merganser

Wild Turkey

Bald Eagle

Red-tailed Hawk

Rock Pigeon

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

American Crow

Black-capped Chickadee

White-breasted Nuthatch

European Starling

American Tree Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Northern Cardinal

House Finch

American Goldfinch

House Sparrow