Nature Note #189: Last Week Listing Challenge
In three days, it will be the final week of 2016. While many will see it as the end of a trying and packed year, I see this final week as an opportunity. As of tonight, I am 11 species away from my goal of seeing 200 species of birds for the year.
Since graduating from college in 2012, I have always tried to observe (both visually and audibly) over 200 species of birds per year. That year, I reached 228 species. In 2013 and 2014, I managed to skip over the line with 225 and 221 species respectfully, but started the decline into the high hundreds last year with 171 total species. In those three previous years, my career has taken me from Connecticut to Massachusetts, back to Connecticut, down to New Jersey, over to Pennsylvania, back to Massachusetts, briefly up to Maine, and finally to Central New York where I currently reside.
From a resume building standpoint, this is pretty impressive, but as a birder with a achievable goal, this was extremely disappointing. My uprooting from Massachusetts to Maine and then to Central New York in the span of two months, in addition to, having a full time job that was more oriented for indoor work than outdoors was certainly to blame. Despite these difficulties and with the end of this year fast approaching, I certainly don't want another year where my listing has fallen below the mark. So I've taken it upon myself to make this last week count as much as possible.
Tomorrow afternoon, my girlfriend and I will be heading home to Massachusetts for the holidays. I'm looking forward to seeing family and friends in this season of cheer and relishing the opportunity to visit some of my favorite birding hotspots as well! The week will start on Christmas Day and run until New Years Eve and will be focused on targeting as many likely species as possible.
Some are common wintering birds like black guillemot (Cepphus grylle), purple sandpiper (Calidris maritima), and scoters (Melanitta spp.), while others like the tufted duck (Aythya fuligula) in on Kenoza Lake in Haverhill and the white-winged doves (Zenaida asiatica) spotted at Fenway are rarities that would be excellent additions to anyone's list!
In addition, I will be posting an end of the year blog post on December 31st about my bird of year. For those of you are new to my postings, every year I choose my favorite bird that I saw of each month and decide which was my overall favorite for that year.
Last year's winner was the Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), which while not as flashy as the previous years, I concluded that its observant nature was a good way to remind myself to practice that skill whenever possible and pay attention to the world around me.
Starting this Sunday, I will have to be hyper observant if I want to make that goal and it will be a treat to see if I do.
See you all next Saturday!
Since graduating from college in 2012, I have always tried to observe (both visually and audibly) over 200 species of birds per year. That year, I reached 228 species. In 2013 and 2014, I managed to skip over the line with 225 and 221 species respectfully, but started the decline into the high hundreds last year with 171 total species. In those three previous years, my career has taken me from Connecticut to Massachusetts, back to Connecticut, down to New Jersey, over to Pennsylvania, back to Massachusetts, briefly up to Maine, and finally to Central New York where I currently reside.
From a resume building standpoint, this is pretty impressive, but as a birder with a achievable goal, this was extremely disappointing. My uprooting from Massachusetts to Maine and then to Central New York in the span of two months, in addition to, having a full time job that was more oriented for indoor work than outdoors was certainly to blame. Despite these difficulties and with the end of this year fast approaching, I certainly don't want another year where my listing has fallen below the mark. So I've taken it upon myself to make this last week count as much as possible.
Tomorrow afternoon, my girlfriend and I will be heading home to Massachusetts for the holidays. I'm looking forward to seeing family and friends in this season of cheer and relishing the opportunity to visit some of my favorite birding hotspots as well! The week will start on Christmas Day and run until New Years Eve and will be focused on targeting as many likely species as possible.
Some are common wintering birds like black guillemot (Cepphus grylle), purple sandpiper (Calidris maritima), and scoters (Melanitta spp.), while others like the tufted duck (Aythya fuligula) in on Kenoza Lake in Haverhill and the white-winged doves (Zenaida asiatica) spotted at Fenway are rarities that would be excellent additions to anyone's list!
In addition, I will be posting an end of the year blog post on December 31st about my bird of year. For those of you are new to my postings, every year I choose my favorite bird that I saw of each month and decide which was my overall favorite for that year.
Last year's winner was the Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), which while not as flashy as the previous years, I concluded that its observant nature was a good way to remind myself to practice that skill whenever possible and pay attention to the world around me.
Starting this Sunday, I will have to be hyper observant if I want to make that goal and it will be a treat to see if I do.
See you all next Saturday!
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