Stratford/Milford CBC 2010 aka. the blizzard

I headed out with Chris L. to tackle the north part of Stratford on Sunday morning for the Straford Milford Christmas Bird Count.  We had a very quiet day, not even able to break 40 species.  We started the day with decent weather with a few random snow showers before the weather totally degraded into solid snowfall with poor visibility. 

The highlight of the day for me was a Common Redpoll feeding on catkins of a few birch trees at Wooster Park.  The bird (a lifer for me) was giving some great views as it even flew down to the water to grab a drink with some Am Goldfinch.  I tried stopping by for a picture on my way home in the snow but couldn't relocate the bird. 

A stop at the community gardens didn't produce the Monk Parakeets we were looking for but we did find an odd looking Canada Goose.  Sibley mentions in his Guide to Birds that variation in the white cheek pattern is normal, although this one goose few found also had short neck in comparison to the others around it.