Nature Note #130: Down to the Wire

As the final month of the year draws closer, I am once again rushing to complete something that I resolved to do earlier this year. While I have held fast to completing some of my new years resolutions such as being more creative (with painting rocks and shells swiftly becoming my new favorite thing to do), learning about wild edibles, and completing my year birding goal of beating last year's goal. Over the past four years, my year birding totals have varied wildly, but as of 2012 I had seen 228 species, whereas last year I got 225. That means that as of today, I have 215 species on this year's list. As of 1:44pm this afternoon, I listed a King Eider (Someteria spectabilis) that had been spotted between the point at Weymouth's Webb State Park and the metal walkway leading up to Grape Island. It was an easy list and one that I had had on my most wanted birds list.

The most wanted list features 20 (now 17 with the acquisition of the King, as well as Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) and Black Scoter (Melanitta americana) in recent days and the likelihood of getting certain) birds that I have a good chance of getting in the next month in order to beat last year's record. They include the following:

1. Brant (Branta bernicla)
2. Cackling Goose (B. hutchinsii)*
3. Eurasian Wigeon (Anas penelope)*
4. Canvasback (Aythya valisineria)
5. Redhead (A. americana)
6. Lesser Scaup (A. affinis)
7. Barrow's Goldeneye (Bucephala islandica)*
8. Bonaparte's Gull (Chroicocephalus philadelphia)
9. Long-eared Owl (Asio otus)*
10. Short-eared Owl (A. flammeus)*
11. Northern Shrike (Lanius excubitor)*
12. Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris)
13. Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)
14. American Pipit (Anthus rubescens)
15. Lapland Longspur (Calcarius lapponicus)*
16. Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca)
17. Common Redpoll (Carduelis flammea)

Those with asterisks are birds that would be lifers for me, but for the most part, they are uncommon and even rare winter visitors that would make for an excellent and overall important edition to the year list. Who knows? Maybe if I get one of these lifers, they can be my bird of the month for December and get a chance to be my 2014 bird of the year. Here's to down to the wire birding and hope that I can achieve my goals.

Update: As of today (11/29/14), every crossed out name will mean that I'm just that little bit closer to reaching my goal. Hopefully, I will win this yet!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nature Note #122: Adventures in Pennsylvania: (Non-Native) Space Invaders

Image
As the first week at the Outdoor School* ended and the weekend arrived, I thought about what to write about this week. I had made it a goal to learn some common night-singing insect calls by visiting the Songs of Insects website and while I haven't done that yet, Sunday isn't over either. After returning from Giant to get some milk, I went for a walk to find some subjects for this weeks post. I decided to settle on three invasive plants that have appeared on the property over the summer. We were introduced to the first during orientation while walking from the group challenge field over the Pennypack Creek that runs through the property. The plant's huge leaves were what surprised me the most, as well as seeming so tropically out of place with the mid-Atlantic environment they were now living in. Initially we were stumped as to their identity, but after one of my bosses did some research, he determined that they were Empress or Princess Trees. Their scientific name is Pa
Read more

Nature Note #187: Devil Down Head

Image
I love old nicknames for birds. Whether they are folk names, sportsmans colloquialisms, or even names from other languages, learning how other groups of people identify certain animals and plants is always an interesting journey through the history of human culture and wildlife identification. The title of this post refers to an old folk name for a common yard and feeder bird, the nuthatch. Here in the northeast, we have two species of nuthatches; the white-breasted ( Sitta carolinensis ) and the red-breasted ( S. canadensis ). White-breasted nuthatch Red-breasted nuthatch Both species are perhaps best known for their tree-scaling ability that would make any free climber jealous of their skills. Many ornithologists have been equally amazed by the skills of the nuthatch. The economic ornithologist, Edward Howe Forbush noted in his Birds of Massachusetts that: "They seem to have taken lessons of the squirrel which runs down the tree headfirst,  stretching out his hi
Read more

Nature Note #201: Blue Cranes and Long Whites

Image
There is a small pond on the Trinity Center property I walk past everyday and is exceptionally buggy. Even when you are covered head to toe with 25% DEET bug spray, it seems to have no effect. The other day, as I rounded a bend, something lifted off from the top of a gnarled cedar. A tall bird croaked with agitation, flying away on long wings and extending a snaking neck. The bird in question was a great blue heron ( Ardea herodias ), a charismatic and recognizable marsh bird that is familiar to most people. Despite their common presence around wetlands, ponds, and rivers, I have heard them mistaken for another tall marsh bird, and are sometimes called "blue cranes". Immature great blue seen near Bogue Sound in Pine Knoll Shores, NC. Photo by me. Bird misidentification isn't a new issue. Even as naturalists and budding ornithologists like John James Audubon and Alexander Wilson were traveling the country identifying the birds they could; even they used colloquial n
Read more