Day 356 - T-minus 10 Days

To quote one of the greatest bands of our time (or something like that):

It's the final countdown
The final countdown
The final countdown
(Final countdown). Ohhh oh oh ohhhh
The final countdown.
Ohhhhhhhhhh
It's the final countdown
The final countdown
The final countdown
(Final countdown)
Ohhh. It's the final countdown
We're leaving togetherrrr.
(The final countdown)
We'll all miss her so
It's the final countdown (Final countdown)
Ohhh. It's. the. final. countdown

And if you're in need of killing just over 4 minutes of your day, check out Europe's music video for this epic ballad below:


The point is, this is the FINAL COUNTDOWN, t-minus 10 days till 2016 comes to an end.  The year is officially 97% complete and the last 3% will probably be over before I know it.  With my year list at a place where there won't be much movement in this final stretch I figured it was time to clean up my list, and make sure I get photos of as many species I was missing pictures of for the year.  The list isn't huge, and some of the species are just going to go down as opportunity missed.  BUT, a few still have a shot--or I should say I have a shot at getting them.

Today I had two targets.  One I suspected would be fairly easy, while the other was a long shot almost any time of year--but December in Narnia is about the best time if you really want to try.  So off I went to a place I visited many times in the hills this year.  It brought me several year firsts, and was a great getaway from the everyday back in civilization.  Today was no different as I had the place mostly to myself.  At my first stop the habitat wasn't the best, and I wasn't able to find either species.  No worries, I had plenty more stops ahead.

At the next pull off from the road I got out and started looking for one species, I imitated it's call, squeezed, squeaked, and pished, and imitated an owl hoping for some type of response. Nothing.  I looked up, and I spotted the familiar shape of a Solo Thief gliding into the trees above.  Well, that was not the species I expected--but , it was the other species I had hoped to find today.  Funny how that worked out...  I took some photos--the 333rd species I've photographed or audio recorded this year.  That leaves just 25 species without some type of documentation.

I continued on for about another hour and a half trying everything to pick up the other species--the Fiery Flitter.  But it wasn't meant to be.  No flitters today.  So with 10 days left and 25 species without photos or audio, how many more can I expect to get?  If I am being honest maybe 3-4.  If I'm being optimistic then 6-7.  But unless something major and reliable shows up in the next few days, I'm focused on documenting a couple more year birds!

New birds today: 0
Year List: 358

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