Nature Note: A Naturalist's Travels Through Nature

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 Ma...

At the end of this week, I will be traveling to New Jersey for my new internship. I won't tell you where for privacy reasons, but I'm definitely looking forward to it. I'm excited for two reasons. One is that this experience will sort of be like college in the sense that I have to rely on myself to cook, clean, and learn those life skills I need when I'm truly out on my own. The second reason is, of course, the birds. Over the next few weeks, I'll be reporting the ins and outs of Pennington and other prime birding locations. I'm especially looking forward to spring migration as my location puts me fairly close to the Chesapeake Bay area allowing me access to the legendary waterfowl and shorebird migrations seen there twice a year. I expect the woodlands to be equally impressive with neotropical migrants such as warblers, tanagers, thrushes, and grosbeaks to add to both my year and life lists. While some initial jitters are over and done with, I only hope that ...

So having looked through my bird lists and tabulating my chances for this year, I've concluded that unless a shit-ton (actual word, just ask any Mainer) of rarities show up on the Atlantic Coast this year, my chances of reaching 400 species on my life list are quite unlikely. So instead I'm shooting for 350 species instead. Still impressive and more achievable especially with the potential to see some more southerly warbler species in the warmer months of the year. I'm also excited for spring migration which means shorebirds, neotropical migrants, and the true harbinger of spring, the Eastern Phoebe ( Sayornis phoebe ). I'll be spending a good chunk of the year in New Jersey which gives me tactical advantage in visiting places like Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in NY, the Pine Barrens of NJ, and the Chesapeake Bay to the south. Below is a list of the top twenty Mid-Atlantic/Southern species I'd like to see while I'm down there. If you guys have tips for where to...

Uh dude....? A little to your left... So as I've mentioned before, I will be year listing this year. I have no set region or state for this so it's more a challenge for me to see how many species I can compile. I must correct people though. It isn't a big year. Unlike the immensely popular film of yesteryear (based on the much better book, as usual), I won't be jet setting around the country to see as many species as humanly possible. I'm not that crazy, nor am I rich. But what's that I hear you say? Kenn Kaufman did his big year for around $1000 and saw just over 660 species! That's true, but he also hitchhiked most of the way and ate cat food at some point. And if eating cat food is a selling point to a birding trip, you're barking up the wrong tree. Besides, I only wanted to announce that I'd recently seen my 100th bird of the year and it isn't even the end of the month either! It was a small group of Common Goldeneye ( Bucephala clangul...

Short second entry this week. I'm always up for a challenge when it comes to birding. Species identification, habitat recognition, and song memorization are all tools of the trade in the science and challenge of birding. This coming year, I'm going for the big 4-0-0. That's right! I made it to 300 in October and with some luck, a lot more of them warblers, and a few good rarities. I spent much of this afternoon compiling a list the likely species I would need to see in order to reach the goal. Thanks to many of the winter finches that have arrived in recent months have helped to pad my life list a little further. I'm now up to 313 and can't wait to get started on this new challenge! I'm also planning a year list starting on the 1st with the first species I see in the new year and throughout. It'll be interesting if I can find many of the new species that I was able to find for my goal this past year. That's all I really wanted to say. Have a fantastic ...

This will be a short entry, but a necessary one. Just two days before I left for my job in Norwalk, CT as a Long-tailed Duck or Oldsquaw ( Clangula hyemalis ) hunter surveyor, I spotted my 300th species. The goal is complete, but I don't want to stop there. Before I mention the latest species addition, I'm going to try and get as many birds as possible before the year is out. I'm hoping for 310, but we'll have to wait and see. Even 301 would be wonderful at this point. Anyhow, back to the matter at hand. The 300th species I saw on October 28th, was a single Rusty Blackbird ( Euphagus carolinus ) flying over Wayland Community Garden in Wayland, MA. I feel fortunate to have seen such a vulnerable species, but at the same time, marveled at every other birder's perceived ability to scope them out. They're very similar to Red-winged Blackbirds ( Agelaius phoenicus ) in flight and can only really be picked apart if they've landed and are pretty close by or by th...