Day 171 - The June Drought
Where has the month gone?
The past 2 weeks have flown by and Narnia has been rather quiet. Usually the 1st half of June has a small handful of rarities reported. I thought for sure I would be out on 1 or 2 chases as the month progressed, but as of today I have not added a new year bird in June. The 20 day drought of new birds isn't a total surprise--and it might continue for a couple more days! The lack of any rarities certainly is a blow to growing my year list, but rarities can never be expected so it is what it is. I have been getting out trying to track down a few of the remaining local species I don't have for the year. My time in the field divided by the number of species I am looking for seems like I am putting an awful lot of effort in for a few birds at this point.
The drought will eventually end, and my guess is that it will end this week. I have some birding planned to pick up a small portion of the resident breeders I haven't picked up. 6 possible year birds in one day. My trek will take me deep into Narnia, where I will visit Cair Paravel for the first time this year. If you are familiar with the lore of Narnia you'll know that Cair Paravel is the fictional castle where the Kings and Queens of Narnia rule. It is the location of the four thrones of High King Peter the Magnificent, High Queen Susan the Gentle, King Edmund the Just, and Queen Lucy the Valiant. I'll let you interpret what this means for my state, but it is significant.
Cair Paravel is one of Narnia's most notable areas. It is as important to my story as it is to the Chronicles of Narnia series. Anyone who does a big year in Narnia has to visit this bastion of royalty. The royalty is not that of people, but of scenery. There aren't a huge number of species that I will add to my list solely from this region--since I haven't visited yet this year that should be apparent. But for a select list of species there are no better place to look than in the nook and crannies of this "castle".
My busy week will conclude with a visit to an area I've already been a handful of times in 2016. I have some clean up work to do--and my fingers crossed for some great finds. The next 10 days will have some serious impact on where my big year goes from here. I might add as many as a 13 new birds in that span--but I should add no less than 8 regardless of how lucky I am. I would love to get into the 310's before June is over, leaving just a couple birds to find in July.
The drought is on and whilst the lake is almost dry, this summer solstice storm, should rain some new birds and provide enough to keep me filled through the summer heat. At least I hope so...
New birds this post: 0
Year List: 301
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