Day 60 - February in the Books

Being 100% honest with myself, I didn't take full advantage of the opportunities presented to me in February. I certainly could have went birding more, could have chased a few "uncommon" birds, and could have put more effort forth. This is a big year after all and every bird I can get is important. The big question is, did I waste February? With 29 days I certainly failed when it came to birding. I only went birding on 7 of those 29 days. That's a very poor metric. I had planned on birding at least 15 minutes every day this year, but after the first week of the month I realized February was not going to make that happen.

I shot out of the gate in January, following strategy, and ticking off the birds I needed. I missed a few important ones, but I would get them in February right? Then February hit and I slowed to a snails pace. Here it is 29 days later and I added just 5 new year birds in February. That should sting a little bit--and it does. Am I sitting at or near the top of Narnia's eBird Top 100 still? Have I fallen behind some competition (real or imagined)? Or is everything just fine and this is all part of the plan?

I can hold steadfast and say, this is MOSTLY all part of the plan. Looking back on these past 29 days I regret not putting forth more effort on 3-4 species. I am almost 100% positive I will get each of those in the next few weeks or in the last month of 2016. It actually wouldn't be all that bad to not pick them up till the end of the year. Having some "easier" year birds left between 11 and midnight on my big year certainly makes for a stronger finish than seeing everything quick and easy.

So here I am at 150 species behind me. 60 days gone. And in short order the bird heaviest portion of the year is just around the corner. March will see things pick up steam. Migrants making their way north will add to my total, and by April I hope to be sitting right around 175 species. You might be shaking your head at me right now, thinking that this is how I sounded a month ago. Well I did sound optimistic. And I did have a goal that I didn't meet. I like to think that this month will be different though. There is a big list of early arrivals that I should pick up, and a small list of residents I've been waiting to go get. February was a nice break though. I needed some time to clear my head, and focus on other things. And in the end I don't think it will hurt my year. February is a hard month as a birder in the U.S.A. You've likely cleaned up in January, leaving little to seek out in February. And the shiny new spring birds aren't quite here yet.

And if you hadn't come to the conclusion yet, no I didn't end up having a great Leap Day birding.  A  ZERO DAY on the books again.

February will undoubtedly be my most environmentally friendly month. I drove just 150 miles for birding this month--while walking 3 miles, and spending 10 hours birding. Light numbers to go along with the $11 I spent, keeping it easy on the pocketbook as well. March will see an immediate increase with several small day trips, and weekend outings planned to go along with any chases that might come up. I hope to hit north of 20 miles on foot again in March, and spend at least 62 hours birding (average of 2/day).  Lastly my gift for the month is the removal of 4 more states from the pool of possibilities (not that these should be any surprise to those playing along).

Narnia is not one of the following states:

South Dakota 
North Dakota 
Vermont 
New Hampshire

That leaves 40 states to choose from... Good luck!

New birds today: 0
Year List: 150

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Day 59 - 150th Species

The slow going of February has continued. Tomorrow I'll write my monthly recap for February, and mostly focus on the slow month it was.  Not a bad thing though.  But before that lets talk about today.  In the past month there have been a handful of species that escaped me.  And this winter we didn't have a single report of a species I have come to expect annually.  This kind of throws a wrench into the gears when you plan and things don't line up.  In the past 10 days though 2 species that became must gets popped up on my radar and eluded me on my first attempt to find them.  So this morning with fingers crossed, and a tank full of gas I set out to see if I could bring them in before they were gone for the year, with no guarantees for the winter that's now just 9 months away.

It didn't take long to track down both--cutting right to the chase in less than 3 hours I had my targets, and as luck would have it I only ran into one birder I knew.  I'm almost hesitant to talk about it, because what if they follow this blog?  I doubt they do, but what if?  Eek.  I guess if this person found out, I actually wouldn't care, I really like them, and I think they would keep my secret for the upcoming 10 months.  So I shared my finds with them, but then, I didn't report them to the local lists or put them in eBird.  It would be too obvious at the moment, and I'm fairly certain several Narnian's are following the blog.  So I apologize for not sharing my sightings, but at the same time, others have reported them in the last week, so I am just a chaser at this point.

One of the birds that had eluded me up till now was the Unscrupulous Marauder.  This darn bird had popped up 3 or 4 times in the past 58 days, and I had tried 3 or 4 times to find it--without luck!  Today I found it lounging right out in the open like it hadn't a care in the world.  I followed this up with a Loud Dancer.  There must have been 7 or 8 reports this winter, and I just hadn't been able to pick one up--until today.  Mission accomplished, with these two birds, I technically don't need to chase any other regular winter visitors to Narnia.  There are still 2 birds I could try to get in the next week.  If that happens the winter was basically a great success.

I'll talk more about misses tomorrow, and the plan for the coming month.  Tomorrow is my extra day for 2016--Leap Day. Can I add a bird on this day that might just be the key to breaking a big year record?  We'll see...

New birds today: 2
Year List: 150

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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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Day 44 - Zero, Zero, Zero...

No need to freak out, but 2 weeks without a new bird, and I'm still okay.  The question is can I add something in week 3 or 4?  I have a really good feeling about this week.  It may not come till the end of the week, but I can feel 3 maybe even 4 or 5 new year birds before week 3 comes to an end.  I actually had the thought of maybe I try to get no new birds in February to have this odd ZERO Month.  How weird would that be to have an entire month with no new year birds--especially when it's month 2?  Weird thought, but it won't happen.  I guarantee that.

Not much new to talk about, and I am saving some more interesting posts for when I get back to posting on a more regular basis.  There have been some interesting happenings in the Narnia birding community as of late, and I need to find a way to talk about them, without giving up too much.

In any event, I'll keep it short by saying nothing else.

New birds today: 0
Year List: 145

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Day 40 - The February Slump

9 Days into February and no new year birds.  I guess my "realistic" goal of 15 new year birds this month might be a stretch at this point.  Strategically I am no worse for wear though.  Of the 15 birds I had in mind for the month, I will see every single one at some point this year.  The push to get them was merely a personal goal to keep my year list growing.  But with 1/3 of the month behind me, I am now being more realistic about the coming 3 weeks.

There will be a small handful of new year birds before February closes out.  I'm in no hurry to track them down and will just see what happens.  This month has thus far been rejuvenating though.  I haven't made a single outing to look specifically for birds.  I have spent at least 15 minutes a day watching my feeders, or stopping to admire a Kestrel, Eagle, or Fluorescent Hopper. This month will be a major cut down on miles for the year, before the April-May-June rush begins.  I suspect I will see potentially 150-175 new year birds in that stretch and will certainly have to make some tough chase decisions once migration is in full swing.

Because I had an efficient January there haven't been chases to make this month.  I've debated taking a day trip under the radar to the corner of Narnia to look for 2 wintering species I've missed.  However, staying under the radar is the hard part.  I may yet disappear for a day and try for a little luck before things move on for the year.

I did have an interesting conversation this week with a follower of the blog that brought up a point worth considering.  Said reader mentioned that as the year goes on and I inevitably am relegated to chasing new year birds that are in all likelihood vagrants, it should be easy to eliminate more states, and narrow down my identity.  This is a good point.  It's a valid point that I managed to hide in January with several mega rarities here in Narnia.  Buried in day lists, with little mention of how rare they were.  This is a must.  A necessity. Even now as I contemplate how it will work when "1 new bird" days become the norm, I'm not sure what route I will take.

I can play off these rare birds as being common in my writing, but that can only go so far.  The sporadic updates instead of daily doses might help as I can add 2-3 species in a week without being too specific about what was actually rare.  I'll toy with this idea for the next little while--I still have a good 4 months till I'll really have to tackle the problem.

The February slump continues... But I'm okay with it.

New birds today: 0
Year List: 145

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Day 37 - 1/10th of the Way There

February has started off slow as I predicted.  Several factors have played into this--mainly the fact I haven't ventured out to chase anything (not much new to chase), and there aren't too many freebies close enough to try right yet.  It's not hurting my year so I'm not worried.  I have now spanned 8 days without a new year bird though.  The first long drought of the year.  Today marks the 1/10th mark for the year-- 1/10th of the way done with 2016.  I wish I had only seen 1/10th of the birds by now, but alas there aren't 1,500 species in Narnia, or even the lower 48 so I'll have to live with what I can muster up.

I've had a few comments asking to identify some birds as well since I mentioned I would earlier in the year.  I am also working on the ability to let you guys guess who I am--with a caveat.  Each person will get just 2 guesses this year.  You will be able to guess once at any point starting some time this month, up until Thanksgiving.  After Thanksgiving you can have one more shot at it.  All guesses will require your name, and email, as well as how you think you figured out my identity.  Any guesses that don't appear to be from real names and emails will be ignored :)

So let's start with a few bird names.  I will tell you the fake name, the real name and how I came up with it.  I am only going to share 3 birds, all three were names using different plans for naming.  I've done this to make sure I don't use just one pattern and give away all the birds too easy.

Ginger = Redhead

This is the most straightforward type of naming convention.  Literally using just another name that means the exact same thing.  You may from time to time hear the phrase ginger related to someone with red hair.  So a ginger is a Redhead. That's the easy one.

Medium Vigilante = Cooper's Hawk

Since I got both the common vigilante's out of the way early and several people wagered guesses this is an easy share.  Vigilante could mean any number of things, and it just sounds like a predator.  Combine that with the fact I had a smallish and a medium vigilante and we are guessing these are hawks, it should be easy to eliminate all the other genera in favor of species that are general referred to as a small accipiter and a medium sized accipiter. So if/when I get a goshawk this year, it might be called Largish Vigilante?  But maybe not--nowhere did I say I was using the same family name for all birds across a family :)

Clairvoyant = Merlin

I alluded to a relation to another bird earlier, which if you're playing along you should now know Kestrel and Merlin.  For this one I separated the bird from its fake name in a simple but useful manner.  Merlin in popular fiction was a wizard.  Another name for a wizard? Clairvoyant.  This was another straightforward approach, but not as obvious.  There are many things a Clairvoyant could've been.  But I liked the name and thought it was fitting.

So there are the obvious straight translations.  The almost obvious word association translations. And the more cloaked multi possibility translations. I didn't include the real confusers though.  There are some names which I just through in to confuse.  It's hard to come up with names for some 400+ species and not give away too many patterns.  So there are a few that make no real sense--but just sounded real fun.

As for the guessing who I am part.  Give me a couple days and hopefully I can get something up and the guesses can begin--although I would suggest saving you guess since you only get one shot int he next 10 months...

New birds today: 0
Year List: 145

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