Day 51 - And We're Back!

Holy smokes.  What a drought.  I wasn't sure it would ever come to an end, but after 20 days--3 weeks basically, I finally added a few new year birds today.  The irony, they were all reasonably common and I could have gotten at pretty much any point in the previous 50 days.  But in this turtle race, I waited till I was in the right place at the right time to pick them up.  My face has dramatically slowed and that obviously takes some of the excitement out of the blog.  As boring as it is for you to have nothing to read, imagine being in my shoes and having nothing to really go after for 3 straight weeks.  Its mind-numbingly painful.  But that will change in the coming weeks as my sporadic post should include new year birds here and there.

Today's quarry were all in small, medium, and/or large flocks. Common Dancers, Productive Pulleys, and Pink-smooshed Sweepers were the new additions to the list.  There are a few names to throw at you to think about it.  All 3 can fly, all 3 can walk, and all 3 can be found at and away from water.  Great clues right?  All 3 will still be seen in Narnia through the spring, and some might stick around through the summer.

The sweepers are one of my favorite birds to watch forage/feed.  They have so much character and today that was present as they interacted with other birds feeding nearby.  The dancers provided some dramatic looks with the scenery.  I really enjoy watching them, but would have loved better looks.  The year is young so I should be okay.  As for the Pulleys, they were distant but an easy ID and although my first of the year, there will be plenty more as spring moves on.

With 3 solid weeks of nothing, I felt a giant weight lifted off my shoulders when I spotted the dancers this morning.  I had high hopes for at least one pretty good rarity today, but it never materialized, and as this winter closes out there are 2 species I missed that I probably won't have a chance at again until next November or December.  A scary prospect as I had one very early on in my previous big year. During the next 9 days, as this odd, extra day February comes to a close I have a short list of things I need to track down,  Undoubtedly the window is closing on several species which will depart Narnia any day now.  That just means that now that we're back, I really have to focus on my priorities!

New birds today: 3
Year List: 148

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