Past the 150 Mark

Wow, that went quick. We are 20 days into the new year, and we've passed 150 species! Even better, some of the recent submissions knocked out some pretty tough birds for us (Zone-tailed Hawk, Green Kingfisher, Say's Phoebe, Sedge Wren, etc.) I know it seems like things may start slowing down, but there are still some birds that we need to get out of the way. If you're feeling particularly adventurous, some targets include Cinnamon Teal, Common Goldeneye, Burrowing Owl, Short-eared Owl, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Red-breasted Nuthatch, and Grasshopper Sparrow.

We've also made the first assignments of the year. Some of these are tougher than others, but they all will require extra work and dedicated searching. Let me know if you'd like to be included.

Kenny Anderson - Scarlet Tanager

Rich Kostecke - Chestnut-collared Longspur

Eric Carpenter - Cassin's Sparrow

Paul Sunby - Virginia Rail

AJ Johnson - American Bittern

Arman Moreno - Reddish Egret

Nate McGowan - American Woodcock

Erik Huebner - Eastern Whip-poor-will

Also, if you are noticing any omissions from the checklist or contributors list, please let me know. I'm trying to keep up, but things may slip past me.

10 Days In...

We're ten days into the big year and we're sitting at 112 species. There are still some pretty easy birds to pick up, although the weather this weekend is less than cooperative. We're also up to 17 contributors and I want to thank each of you for your help and involvement. At the request of a few contributors, I'm going to try to start including date and location information for the submissions. If possible, please name your photos with species, location, and date.

It's also time that I throw down a challenge. There are some birds that require some extra work. We need some heroes. We're looking for Virginia Rail (remember that an audio recording will suffice), American Bittern, American Woodcock, and Brown Creeper. Who will it be?

The first 84

Okay, we're through the first weekend of the year and I think it's safe to say we are doing pretty well. Our primary targets this week were the rarities and vagrants that have been present since last year and a few people helped us out by picking up Brown Booby, Curve-billed Thrasher, Bullock's Oriole, and Pyrrhuloxia. We've also picked up some routine winter things, although there are some easy targets for anyone looking to add some things. We are at 84 species from 12 contributors, and I see both of those lists growing considerably in the coming weeks. 

For those of you looking for a bit tougher challenge, these are some winter species that are here but need some extra effort in tracking down:

Cinnamon Teal

Greater Scaup

Sedge Wren

Eastern Towhee

LeConte's Sparrow

Thanks to everybody who helped this big year get off to a successful start.

-Nate

And we're off!

And we're off! Not the best weather to get started, but as the sun is going down on the first day of the year we have 13 species from two contributors. There are some birds that we need to get sooner rather than later; if you're interested in assignments, comment here or send me an e-mail. Looking forward to seeing what everybody is coming up with.