Day 91 - March in the Books

Oh where, oh where has the secret big year birder gone. Needless to say I have been MIA the past couple of weeks. I left off telling you about an upcoming trek that would bloat my bird list for the month. It never came to fruition, and it doesn't hurt my year. I also skipped out on any unnecessary birding, trying to preserve that time for when I need it. I did add 2 species of the previous 15 days though. The first was a Forest Thief. I will have numerous more throughout the year, but came across one while I was searching for something else. This was my only vested birding over the stretch. I also added a Turkey Vulture for the year just a few days ago. This puts me at an even 160 leaving March. This is behind my previous big year pace, but nothing to be alarmed at.

So what happened to March? Besides a cancelled weekend excursion that would have undoubtedly pushed me past 175, there just weren't that many things I needed to make March a big deal. March like February in Narnia is a slower month. The money I saved on gas, and the time I didn't put forth in hopes of finding something unexpected will be put to better use down the road. To be honest, there weren't any fantastic reports this month either. This combination of things led to an even slower than expected March. But the slowdown will officially come to an end with April. Things will speed up, birds will be arriving in wild numbers, and for the next 90 or so days, I will add about as many birds as I have up to now.

You might be thinking, what does the Secret Big Year Birder mean when they say, "put their time to better use down the road"? It's simple, I have things going on outside of birding in my life that take up a great deal of time. Be it a job, multiple jobs, retirement hobbies, family, kids, parents, friends, all of the above, or none of the above (okay, some of the above); time is money so to speak. If a rare Spot-winged Doppelganger shows up in July and I have used up too much time early on chasing superfluous species, then I didn't put my time to good use. I want to make sure that when I need to go, and find something special I can--and hopefully few, or no one will notice.

I won't be sharing any states this month--I've already narrowed it enough for you to start whittling the list down further. Nor will I be sharing species names. There were only 11 new year birds this month, which doesn't help me for trying to keep things broad. And although March was better than February in terms of total species, it still was slow. Thank goodness April is here. April. When things literally take off again. Let's hope things really take off, some good birds show up, and I can keep my identity a secret for another 30 days...

New birds the past 15 days: 2
Year List: 160

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