Anyone else keeping a yearlist of everything they've seen/heard this year?
Got to 64 species on 1st, and 100 on 2nd. Not been out today (bad weather!). Best birds on 1st, Kingfisher, Short-eared Owl; on 2nd, Lesser Scaup, Desert Wheatear, Whooper Swan (pic), Greater White-fronted Goose, Bean Goose.
Resin
I think I'm going to do a yearly list, as encouraged by a real twitcher friend I've met in my town. He has a county record for 2011. I'm not going for any records, but just to have a list. I'll have to be better about logging into Ebird.
Got a lifer today though. Both male and female White-winged Crossbills. They were eating seeds on conifers along with Pine Siskins and Black-capped Chickadees.
TERRIBLE photos though.
I've never actually made a list but I think I'll make one this year-thanks for the suggestion Resin. You certainly did well on your lists.
Mrs Ed, congrats on the crossbills! When you're on ebird, be sure and sign up for the rarities emails-they're pretty interesting and you'll be able to see the map locations of the sightings.
I think it's neat you started this thread because two days ago, I decided to do a year list. We are now at 21. I am thrilled we already have the Bald Eagle this year.
Our life list grew quite a bit last year because we were actively birding. Out of all the birds we've ever seen, we saw all but two last year. I thought it was cool we saw 106 different birds in 2011. The only two we did not see were the Ruddy Duck and a Yellow-billed Cuckoo. I am curious to see how we do this year.
Well I'm at "15". LOL but that does not (yet) count all the birds I have seen just driving i.e., ring billed gulls, canada geese, mallard, rock pigeon, etc. I'll officially add those on the weekend.
Good starts all! White-winged Crossbill is a very good one to get!
Added two more to my yearlist today, Common Snipe and Water Rail, = 102
Resin
32 so far. The only ones that are usually not seen locally are the Red-tailed Black Cockatoos.
I've started a year list too. Thanks for mentioning it Resin. Twelve for me so far. No Redpolls or Bohemian Waxwings this year yet. My unusual one was, the Ruffed Grouse.
I'm up to 23. Lots of Redpoll sightings, hoping they'll drop in this year.
Nice Grouse!
I'm up to 32 just at my home already. I didn't realize I had so many different species.
Great shot of the grouse Burn!
I'm envious of that Ruffed Grouse ;-)
Two more for me today, Great Grey Shrike (pic) and Fieldfare, = 104
Resin
I am at 40 here on the farm. Had a Bewicks Wren yesterday but the Carolina Wrens are hiding out so far this year. I am surprised at the variety around here and still have not seen a Fox, Lincolns or Harris Sparrow. Still watching for a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and that will give me 6 varieties of woodpeckers. I would faint if a Red-Headed showed up!
I am jealous of the Crossbills, Grouse and all of Resins!!
Love that Ruffed Grouse burn!
This is kind of silly. We have to travel elsewhere to see our "usual". We got a Cardinal yesterday about 30 miles from home. The weather is sure doing something.
Two more for me today, Common Redpoll (105) and Lesser Redpoll (106).
I'd have to go a very long way to see a Cardinal! The flock at the Vatican are the closest, and they don't really count ;-)
Resin
A run up to Holy Island took the yearlist to 119:
Brent Goose
Little Egret
Grey Plover
Merlin
Sky Lark
Slavonian Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Peregrine Falcon
Greenshank
Common Scoter
Razorbill
Fulmar
Kittiwake
Resin
That was funny, Resin. LOLOL
We are up to 26. A Cooper's Hawk and Great-horned Owls came to the yard a couple times. We also gained a lifer, Cackling Goose. We hope to go out Saturday to some city parks and add a few more to that number. I think we might be crazy though with the temp being in the single digits. Layers upon layers and hot cocoa should help keep us somewhat comfortable.
25 here! Better watch out Resin!!!!!
A trip inland, five new for the year brings the total to 124:
Green Sandpiper
Brambling
Green Woodpecker
Crossbill
Marsh Tit
Resin
Resin, do you have lots of spring migrants?
Yep, some, but not so very many - because Britain has very mild winters and relatively cool summers, most birds are resident rather than migratory. We also get a lot of winter visitors from the arctic too. My 2011 total was 214, so in the first 3 weeks, I've already seen well over half of the total number of species I'm likely to get this year.
You'll all catch up and overtake in May when your flood of summer visitors arrive ;-)
Resin
One new today, Iceland Gull = 125
Resin
Yes, I'll get a bunch of new ones in April and May. More if I look but probably still unlikely to top your numbers. I'm a terrible bird watcher in the field. To impatient and don't know the calls.
I added a new one today, Yellow Bellied Sapsucker. However, my count did not go up, but down as I had a couple of species duplicated!
So I'm down to 24. Boo.
American Bald Eagle
American Crow
American Goldfinch
Black-capped Chickadee
Blue Jay
Bufflehead
Canada Goose
Common Redpoll
Cooper's Hawk
Dark-eyed Junco
Downy Woodpecker
European Starling
House Finch
House Sparrow
Mallard
Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal
Pine Siskin
Red-tailed Hawk
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
White-breasted Nuthatch
White-winged Crossbill
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
This message was edited Jan 25, 2012 9:32 AM
18 there that are not on my yearlist - the 6 shared are: Canada Goose, Mallard, Rock Pigeon, Common Redpoll, European Starling, House Sparrow. Three introductions one way, one introduction the other way (Canada Goose), and just two (Mallard & Common Redpoll) native to both continents.
Resin
Five more today to 130:
Bewick's Swan
European Stonechat
Meadow Pipit
Black Redstart
Common Guillemot (Murre)
Didn't take any pics today, but here's a Stonechat pic from earlier
Resin
Wow, you're doing well. What's the prize for the person with the longest list by the end of the year?
I'm on 49.
Resin , your on a Roll !!!!
No new ones for me. I won`t be the one winning for sure, if ever there`s a prize.
25. Sharp-shinned hawk. Also a lifer (and therefore also a first in the yard)
It was mesmerizing to watch. The bird landed on the ground, then proceeded to stalk the sparrows in the christmas tree. So much for providing cover.
Hmmm . . . sorry, but looks more like a Cooper's to me, the legs aren't exactly 'sharp', and the bill is heavy too.
Resin
Really? rats. Well it was a small one.
One new today: Lesser Black-backed Gull 131.
Also got my 2nd Iceland Gull of the year, this time standing still for a pic (light was poor, though!) with an immature Great Black-backed Gull here.
Resin
Hey, congratulations. So it turns out I AM at 25 because I forgot to add an American Kestrel. I saw a second one today so that reminded me. I have to get better at this list making. Ha.
Wow Marna, it a really great pic of it too. I have difficulty telling them apart, too. If I see it in the tree, I can pretty much tell by their size. They are just a bit bigger to the Mourning Dove in size, but I can't tell the difference in pictures. I have a Copper's hanging around. He has had some successful hunt on the Mourning Doves. Crows were chasing it yesterday, with it's prey in his talons.
Thanks Burn. I've been looking at more pictures online and saw some pix of people holding the bird, getting a better idea of the size. This one must just have been a small Coopers, it was about the size of a crow I'd guess.
Cool thread! Y'all are seeing some awesome birds! I did my first year list last year and ended with 336 which was great for me (more than double what my life list had been), but most big birders in Texas get 400 per year. I'm hoping to get that high this year. I'll have to make a trip to west Texas and to the Rio Grand Valley. So far this year, I'm at 149.
My friend quoted someone who said that having a year list was like "making a date with a bird." I love that. I drove by an empty lot a few weeks ago and saw 3 Eurasian Collared Doves and I was so excited to see them! It's fun.
The other thing that birders are doing around here is the Century Club where you get 100+ species in each of 5 counties. They're trying to encourage people to bird in counties that don't usually draw birders. I want to do that this year too. It's based on your life list which makes it easier, so I have enough in 2 counties. I just need to get 3 more and I'm pretty close in 2 of them. This counting business gets kind of crazy!
Wanted to mention one more thing. If you're not doing ebird, you might want to start b/c there are couple of really neat features. You can sign up for rare bird alerts and "needs" lists where they tell you if a bird you haven't seen yet is in your area.
They just changed the rare bird alerts so you can do them for a smaller area. For example, I get one for my county. Lately b/c of the drought we've been getting western birds that we don't usually see. They're not rare for Texas, so they didn't use to show up on the rare bird alert, but they are rare for Harris County, so I get them on my Harris County rare bird alert. It's a lot easier to get your numbers up if you can get those unusual birds close to home, and it's really exciting to see them! I can think of 10 birds right off the bat that are already on my year list that are rare for this area, and I only found 3 of them on my own. I went looking for six of the others b/c of ebird reports. I only have 1 from a friend calling me about a bird, so ebird is really helping me.
The other thing that birders are doing around here is the Century Club where you get 100+ species in each of 5 counties. They're trying to encourage people to bird in counties that don't usually draw birders. I want to do that this year too. It's based on your life list which makes it easier, so I have enough in 2 counties. I just need to get 3 more and I'm pretty close in 2 of them. This counting business gets kind of crazy!
Yep, birders around here are definitely wasting fuel and emitting nasty air pollution, but we usually go in groups, so do we get points for car pooling?
Got some birds yesterday including a rare one for this area, a Say's Phoebe. It's been seen for a while and I've tried 2 or 3 times before to see it, so was pretty glad I finally saw it before leaves. I'm now up to 154. My friend only got one new bird yesterday, so I guess I'm already behind.
Saw a Ruby-throated hummer yesterday, so looks like they are already headed north!
This post has been keeping busy since the last time I looked.
I am now at a whopping 35! But one of the last ones is the Western Meadowlark. I first heard it singing Tuesday, but actually saw it Wednesday foraging in our north pasture. Tuesday we went walking and saw our first of the year Red-winged Blackbirds, another we usually don't see until spring.
I've used Ebird for about a year now and enjoy it. A few months ago, I signed up for "needs" in my county and one we visit frequently. When we visit the neighbouring county it usually is for seeing birds we wouldn't around home. We'd go to the dam, wooded areas, etc. Well, I ended up cancelling that county's needs because I was getting daily alerts for Starlings and House Sparrows. They're on my life list at Ebird, just not for that county.
