Day 25 - Take it Easy

Monday, January 25, 2016 4 Comments A+ a-


I woke up this morning feeling a little under the weather so I took it easy today.  Lighten up while you still can, don't even try to understand, just find a place to make your stand and take it easy.  No chasing, no scheming for at least 1 new year bird--just taking it easy.  Besides hopefully feeling a bit better tomorrow these days are a nice reset to take a step away from big year birding and focus on other things in life.  Health is important, and obviously a cold, the flue, or some other bug making the rounds isn't going to put the nail in the coffin for the year.  If I rest today it makes the coming days easier.  Given current events, I feel this is fitting...


So what about those coming days? Well there are a few things I am planning the remainder of the week after thinking about it today.  I have a pretty good shot at one new year bird within 15 minutes of home.  If I get that, it leaves 8 more to hit 150 for the year.  There is one vagrant that I will probably take a stab at this weekend.  It been hanging around since 2015 and has been pretty regular in "The North".  There aren't many other birds in The North for me right now, so after that it will be a little hopping around for a bird here and there if I can luck it out.

As January comes to a close I'm already looking ahead to March. I have a feeling February will be slow--I may not do much seeking out, and stick to chasing most of the month.  I do have one planned outing to try for a resident bird that is hard to find any time of year--so if I start early, hopefully I will have many opportunities to pick it up; or I'll just get lucky and get it on the 1st try :)

The last thing I want to reiterate is this is a game.  I am deliberately leaving some information out, and trying to keep things vague.  I received an angry email today and was quite surprised that someone could have so much anger about what I'm doing:

"It's disgusting that you feel the need to lie, when you're already hiding your identity behind this blog.  I for one am done wasting my time, if that is how you're playing!"

Well okay.  Its not for everyone--but a few sleuths out there have done so pretty handy work so far, and I'm excited to see what others come up with as the year goes on!  I'm not going to dwell on the negativity anymore--bird on, and take it easy!

New birds today: 0
Year List: 141

FOLLOW ALONG:

Next Day

Previous Day

I'm on a mission to see as many birds as I can in 2016... within the borders of my home state. The only catch is I'm not telling anyone that I'm doing a Big Year...

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Gretchen
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January 26, 2016 at 5:50 AM delete

It is fun - and a tricky balance. I don't know if anyone's done this before, so figuring out the best way to do it is a bit hit and miss. But as well as being fun, by discussing everything at an arm's length, you have a chance to do some interesting reflecting and share some aspects that can lost in the "I drove xx miles, waited 4 hours, and finally saw the yy" type of narratives. This approach genuinely provides some new insights. Hope you keep having fun...

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Anonymous
AUTHOR
January 29, 2016 at 9:36 AM delete

I agree! I love the secret aspect of this. Who are you and what clues are you giving us? It makes for a fun read.

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January 29, 2016 at 10:23 PM delete

Thanks Gretchen! I am having a great time. At the end of the day I will have a good time, and if people following along aren't enjoying, for whatever reason, there's nothing I can do to change that :)

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