Day 2 - Undersized, Medium, and Dull

Today was strategically a slow day.  Since I started off  the year with a nice haul, I opted to take it easy, and not worry about chasing down rarities on day 2.  It was a good call.  At least 3 rarities reported yesterday were no-shows today.  There are still numerous year birds present in my area and around the state that I could have sought out, but they will all come in due time.  The list of must get winter birds is small and will be methodically narrowed down as the next 50 some odd days continue.  I plan on starting to narrow these down once the week starts and I can make short 1 bird excursions as needed.  Mainly I'll be keeping an eye on the rarities--and in some cases a saved chase is worth it.

This post isn't to say I missed out today. I managed to nail down 3 new year birds with out really trying.  The first was the diminutive Undersized Jackbird.  It's small but the name doesn't do this bird justice.  For what it lacks in size it more than makes up in character, call, and actions.

The second find was while driving when a Medium Vigilante passed over the car.  I wasn't sure if I would see the Medium or Smallish Vigilante first this year but a quick look over the field marks and the Medium it was!  The third and final new bird of the day was a Dull Dancer hanging out on the edge of a local watering hole.  It was expected, so it wasn't a surprise; I just took advantage of merely being in the area. But there's a catch, I'm not counting the dancer on my year list for now... maybe later if I have one where I can't question its provenance...

So yes, an undersized, a medium, and a dull bird made up the new year birds on day 2.  Any new birds are exciting, because at some point in the year new birds will go from constant stream, to trickling creek, and finally a dry river bed with a spot of water here and there.

New birds today: 2
Year List: 47

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