May finishes..sort of a repeat of last year

It's time for another update on this blog.

The 5th month of 2012, the year after my Junior Big Year is coming to a close.  This is not a Junior Big Year, however my birding is shaping up similarly.  The trips last year are what gave me the big numbers.  So far I have not flown anywhere this year and only have one flying trip planned for the rest of the year.  Obviously, my list is lower at this time than it was last year at this time.  Right now my "year list" is at 209 species, last year at this time that number was 302.  Call it 100 below, it is very close.   Although that is a big difference, the way the birds are shaping up is VERY SIMILAR to last year, only with less bird species since there have been less trips.  As an example, last year from mid April-mid May I was adding more than one year bird every day, on average.  Some days there would even be 5 or 8 "new ones".  This is because a large percent of wood-warblers, thrushes, flycatchers, vireos, etc. winter in Mexico or South America.  When the birds return for breeding, a lot of them pass through or breed here in Virginia, so the birds just "racked up".  A very similar scenario happened this year.  I had multiple days with 5-8 year birds and few days with none, from mid April-mid May.  However, at the end of the third week in May, here in Virginia the migration turns the "off switch" with not much notice.  By May 25th, Blackpoll Warblers and a few other "late warblers" are the only ones trickling through, and in very small numbers.  You still have the breeders (Redstarts, Ovenbirds, Black-and-whites, Chestnut-sideds, Hoodeds, Ceruleans, Waterthrushes, and so on) however they are all fairly common and I will have likely "picked them up" by the first week of May.  So come mid May last year year birds all of a sudden became few and far between.  In the first half of May last year I added 21 year birds.  In the second half of May last year I added 4 year birds.  A very similar thing happened this year.  In the first half of May I added 21 (do you see the pattern here?) year birds and so far from May 15-May 29 I have added 1 year bird.

This shows you, that even when 2 birding years are very different, same patterns can and do occur with bird migration.

So long.

Gabriel

Life bird

Although as a general rule I am not keeping this blog up to date (my current blog is www.wildwithgabriel.blogspot.com) I figured that a life bird also deserved a mention on this blog.

I added my 468th life bird this past February in Delaware, a Razorbill.  I had heard rumors that Blue-winged Warblers breed in Loudoun County Virginia, something that caught my interest since I needed a Blue-winged Warbler as a life bird.  But I didn't fully believe the rumor until I heard it from a Loudoun County bird expert himself.  Then I knew that this summer I had to make the 3 hour one-way drive to tick a life Blue-wing.  But today I was on a bird walk, only an hour from my house that saved me a trip to Loudoun County.  I heard the "BZZZ_zitt" of a BLUE-WINGED WARBLER on that bird walk, several times.  Once at the beginning of the bird walk to put it down as a possible sighting and again after the bird walk to confirm it.  Thanks to other birders for also confirming the identity of this 469th LIFE BIRD of mine!

Stay tuned to www.wildwithgabriel.blogspot.com to see what other birds I am seeing this spring.

Happy birding,

Gabriel

The wonders of spring migration and some reflections

It's mid April.. spring migration time.  Exactly one year ago I was sitting at 253 bird species for my Junior Big Year, gearing up for spring migration, one of the few 'make or brake' parts of any Big Year attempt.  Last year, spring migration treated me well, I went from 250 bird species at the beginning of spring migration on ahead to around 310 once it was all said and done.  While this year, 2012 is not another Junior Big Year attempt by any means it's still an exciting time.  Warblers, thrushes, buntings, and tanagers, our colorful, tiny feathered friends are returning from their wintering grounds in the Southern US, Mexico, and South America.  And they make a wonderful addition to any year list, a Junior Big Year one or not.  I was out birding with a good friend and excellent birder Vic Laubach this past weekend and with my mom today and had 9 warbler species in the 3 days, including 6 FOY.  My 2012 year total now sits at a comfortable 156 species.  This is 97 (call it 100) species behind what I had at this date in 2011.  The gap will continue to grow.  In January the number was only about 30 apart.  Now it's 100 apart.  I expect that I'll end 2012 with approximately 300 species, which would put me 137 behind last year.  That may not sound huge, but it is.  The 300 birds I will see this year will all be mostly expected eastern birds along with maybe 40 rocky mountain species (I am going to Glacier NP in Montana this summer)   Compare that to the 437 species, which included some Alaskan, Arizonian, Californian, Texan, and Floridian species as well as east coast species.  While it may be only 137 behind last year, the "quality" of the birds is far different.  Last year the "best" sighting could be considered either Gyrfalcon, Brown Shrike, or one of the other "super" birds from 2011.  So far the "best" bird in 2012 is probably the White-winged Dove.  That's a nice bird, especially for Virginia, where I found my 2012 individual.  But it doesn't compare with my "best" bird as of April 16 2011, Brown Shrike or Black-veneted Oriole.

These are just a few reflections on how amazing 2011 really was.  I look forward to adding more spring arrives to my 2012 year list and the question that's in my mind now is once again "when can I go birding?"

Happy migration,

Gabriel

One down, three to go!

Tonight I presented "My 2011 Junior Big Year!" presentation to the Augusta Bird Club, one of my three local birding clubs.  It was well received and I had so much fun giving it.  Next month I'll be presenting at the Rockingham Bird Club in Harrisonburg and in October I'll be at the Monticello Bird Club in Charlottesville.  I've been invited to the Blacksburg Bird Club but don't yet have a date.

Very exciting!

Gabriel

"My 2011 Junior Big Year!" presentation

I've spent a lot of time in the last couple months putting together my presentation "My 2011 Junior Big Year!", a slide presentation about my amazing year.

It's finally almost complete!

I am scheduled to give the presentation at 3 local birding clubs, the first of which is going to be Monday April 9th at the Augusta Bird Club here in Virginia.
If anyone would like to come to my presentation, please comment on this blog post and I will give you details.

So long,

Gabriel (KestrelSwan)

The birding continues...the all-minded-listing does not

Today marks the two month mark since the finish of my Junior Big Year.

Am I still birding?  Oh yes!  I am all-so actively birding still, and I currently have a 2012 year list of about 122 species.  While that may sound high, they're basically just the regulars (other than one or two oditys) that are in Virginia at this time of year.  I am about 40 birds behind what I was at last year at this time.  Once the summer gets here and I don't do nearly as much traveling as last year, that number will slip to 100-200 behind last year.  Other than for a trip to Montana this coming summer, this is basically a "normal birding year".  This past weekend I went out east to Maryland and Delaware in hopes of finding 3 rare birds: Pink-footed Goose, Razorbill, and Virginia's Warbler.  Of those 3 we only found the Razorbill, which was a life bird for me.  However, instead we ended up in Chincoteague Virginia and I found a White-winged Dove, a rare visitor to Virginia and spent time adding about 20 new 2012 year birds, watching the Tundra Swans, and seeing the Chincoteague Ponies.  Had I been doing a Junior Big Year, we would have stayed longer at the goose and warbler, perhaps spent more money on another hotel night, and would have missed the magic of Chincoteague.

As thrilling and amazing as the Junior Big Year was, it's a little bit nice to now have a more mellow birding and wildlife watching life, again :)

Gabriel
ps. be sure to check out my new blog, which I'm more-or-less keeping up to date: www.wildwithgabriel.blogspot.com

Looking back on 2011

Today marks the day of one and a half months since the last day of my 2011 Junior Big Year.  I'd like to look back a little bit on that amazing year.

How did the Big Year go?  in one word, AMAZING!  437 is more than I could ever have imagined in my wildest dreams.  With just 13 more birds I would have had 100 more than my original goal of 350.  

Were there any "big misses"? Yes, I think there are in all Big Years.  Some were simply "misses" and a few I chose not to chase due to cost, time, etc.  The one that I didn't get that I "should have had" was the White-throated Thrush (AKA White-throated Robin) in Estero Llano Grande State Park in texas.  Both my dad and I put in hours of searching for that Mexican Mega but it just didn't show itself to us.  It was supposed to be so reliable that it was almost bizzare.   A few that I didn't chase due to restrictions.  One that I felt like "I should have chased" was the Hammond's Flycatcher at a graveyard in Corpus Christi Texas.  We were planning on chasing it but we would have to be in downtown at rush hour and it would rip out some precious time in the RGV.  So we chose not to chase it.  But I surely later regretted it...until I was in Madera Canyon Arizona when our guide spotted and identified my life Hammond's!  Sometimes hard choices turn out to be good in all regards in the end.  

Birds that I'm "shocked" I got?  There was surely a few of those.  A few of the biggest surprises were very rare birds that showed up WHILE I was in the state they showed up in.  One of those examples would be the Rufous-capped Warblers in Florida Canyon Arizona.  During my first night in Arizona I read about these rare mexican birds showing up and I later got them.   Several other examples included included 3 in Maryland.  On my first trip to Maryland, I went trying to just get the Calliope Hummingbird.  But while I was there a Le Conte's Sparrow showed up and I got that too.  On that same trip I read about a Snowy Owl in New Jersey that had recently shown up and we chased it and got it.  On my second trip to Maryland, which we thought was just for Black-headed Gull got me the gull but a Black-headed Grosbeak showed up while we were there..and well, we got that one too. 

Anyway, these are just a few reflections on my amazing year.  Today I go chase a Greater White-fronted Goose that has shown up near where I live and although it won't be a lifer (it was number 368 for my J. Big Year) it's a wonderful 2012 year bird.

Good birding!