Nature Note #133: Bird of the Year 2014

So as the first day of this new year begins to wane, I'm sitting down and thinking about some of my favorite birds I saw from this year, as well as from years past. After spending some time going through my eBird lists and looking up what birds (including lifers) I'd seen, I began the process of figuring out which was the best bird I had seen overall for each year from 2010 onwards.

For each year leading up to this past year, I'll list the single "bird of the year" and then elaborate when talking about birds from 2014. The birds I will mention from 2014 will be three honorable mentions, the last year bird species I saw, and my favorite life bird. So here goes.

2010: Swallow-tailed Kite (Elanoides forficatus)

Photo by Brian E. Small

2011: Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis)

Photo by Pat Watts

2012: Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis)

Long-tailed Duck in Norwalk Harbor. Photo taken myself.

2013: Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus)

Immature Snowy Owl on Plum Island. Photo taken myself.

And now for the 2014 winners and runners up!

Honorable Mention #1: Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)

The earliest Eastern Phoebe I'd ever seen! 2/16/14! Photo taken myself.

In mid-February last year, I was taking a hike along the main trail at Great Meadows in Concord, MA to get a jump on my birding for the year. I was feeling pretty good back then despite the cold and snowy trails and was heading towards the main deck overlooking the frozen marsh beyond, before noticing a dark bird sitting in a small tree by the side of the cattails. I looked at it through the binos and was completely floored at this sighting of an early Eastern Phoebe! The earliest I'd ever seen one was mid-March and it was only two days past Valentine's Day! It was certainly a surprise and one of my favorite memories of the year.

Honorable Mention #2: Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus)

Photo taken myself.

In an epic quest to try and see the hallowed Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybrida) that was seen for 10+ days at Cape May State Park, Cape May, NJ in October, I birded in and around the surrounding area, picking up necessary year birds like Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors), Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea), and Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia). Despite being unable to find this holy grail of a species, I visited the nearby Nature Conservancy Migratory Bird Refuge to see if I could find any shore birds. Sure enough, there were a brace of Stilt Sandpiper juveniles cavorting with some Semipalmated Plovers (Charadrius semipalmatus) and Sandpipers (Calidris pusilla). The disappointment of not getting the Whiskered Tern was substantial, but knowing that I was able to get so many year birds and at least one lifer that day made up for it.

Honorable Mention #3: Barn Owl (Tyto alba)

Photo by Mike Rae

While out to find some owls one evening in Horsham, PA this past fall, I got the shock of a night time when a white spectre flushed from the nearby Pennypack Organic Farm. It flapped away on silent wings and let out a shrill cry. For the first time in nearly a decade, I had seen a Barn Owl in the wild! What joy I felt at having seen it, but sad as well for how brief the encounter was too. Hopefully I will be able to view one of these scarce, but beautiful ghosts again in the new year.

Year Bird Finalist: Redhead (Aythya americana)

Photo by Minnesota Birder.

In the last week of December, I got my last year bird of 2014. Two male Redheads on Sudbury Reservoir in Southboro, MA became my 221st species of the year. While I didn't reach my goal of surpassing my record from last year (225 species), over the past three years, I have successfully seen over 220 species every year and instead will make it my goal this year to continue that trend. I first spotted them on the 26th while looking for a Canvasback (A. valisineria) that had been spotted the day before. While that white-backed, ski-slope-billed duck eluded me, I was surprised to find the Redheads, which are rare in our neck of the woods at most times of the year. As such when I checked the reservoir today, they were still there and added to my new year's day total of 19 species.

Favorite Life Birds: Cackling Goose (Branta hutchensii) and 

Greater White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons)

Cackling Goose in Belmont. Photo taken myself.

Greater White-fronted Goose at Cherry Hill Reservoir in W. Newbury. Photo taken myself.

The winners for this year are the two species that have eluded me for quite some time, but eventually I connected with them towards the end of the year. Most noticeably any time I've seen a waterfowl species that was rare and unexpected (with the exception of the King Eider (Someteria spectabilis) and Redhead), they were always with Canada Geese (Branta canadensis). Given that they are the most common water bird that is likely to be seen east of the Mississippi in the fall, I'm not surprised to see them at all. In my blog post about distinguishing Cackling Geese from their larger and more numerous relatives, I noted that everyone else in the world would see that Cacklers are no different from the usual geese save for their diminutive size, short bill, and higher pitched cackling call. If you want to learn more about them, you should check out the link above.

On the other hand, the Greater White-fronted Goose was cool because it represents a genus that is rare in the east unless you have a population of feral domestic geese living near you. As a member of the genus Anser, it represents a largely Old World group of geese that includes Bean (A. fabilis/serrirostris) and Pink-footed Geese (A. brachyrhynchos). It breeds on the high Arctic of Nunavut, Yukon, and Alaska and generally migrates through the Mountain and Central flyways. So to see one so far south and out of place is a real treat. As such, I deem that these two species are my co-winners for the year! I look forward to seeing what I can find in the coming year and hope that it is as fulfilling and amazing as this past year was as well.

Happy New Year everyone and happy birding!