The Snow is Sprinkled with Year Birds

On day 1 after the blizzard (yesterday), I went birding in the park. Unfourtunately, so many people went to play in the snow that it was hard to find many birds. Still, I added 1 new year bird, a Hairy Woodpecker by the Gill. My friend Ryan reported a Rusty Blackbird at the Gill, an amazing find for this time of year, but I missed it by about a half hour. Today, the park was back to its usual self, and birds were easy to find. I also added some year birds today. My first was a pair of Dark-Eyed Juncos (#52) seen in some trees next to the Reservoir. I later saw another one at the Pinetum. The second was a male Wood Duck (#53) that flew in at the north side of the Reservoir. After a quartet of Song Sparrows there, and a sapsucker and the junco at the Pinetum, I went into the Ramble. Even though it was a long shot, I went to the Gill to try to find Ryan's Rusty Blackbird. I went down the length of it and back looking for the bird. Just as I finished searching, I heard a strange noise that sounded similar to a grackle, but softer. I eventually located the suspect in a tree, a male RUSTY BLACKBIRD (#54)! This was a huge addition for this early in the year, and they are really hard to find, even during migration. After that, I went to go check out the feeders for a bit, which had a Brown-Headed Cowbird, along with the usual birds. I then left, heading down the path towards the boathouse to leave the park. But year birds can strike anywhere, even when you called it a day. Out of the corner of my eye in a bush next to the Boathouse, I spotted a male EASTERN TOWHEE (#55)! This is a rare winterer in the park which occurs every year. I just didn't expect I would find it. Strangely, this is the same spot where another male bird, possibly the same individual, wintered last year. I'm now running out of targets to look for, with the only one I have a good shot at being Red-Winged Blackbird.