Day -1: Planning for Day 1
Blueprint for a Big Year...
Today is the last day of 2015 and I am busy trying to get the word out about my big year. I had been thinking about it for a few weeks, but didn't make the decision till the middle of the night a few days ago. So literally no on knows about my quest! Simultaneously, I am trying to plan tomorrows New Year Birding, because without birding there is no Big Year!
There are a handful of good birds in my neck of the woods right now. Besides the regular Mallards, the everyday European Starlings, and the what seems like over abundance of overwintering Pink-smooshed Sweepers, there are some really good state birds present at the moment. A quick look through the eBird alerts for my state and I count no less than 10 great state birds for the year. Of those 10 there are 4 I didn't get on my previous Big Year, which is a good sign.
There is just 1 bird I think I have to get tomorrow and its a vagrant Motley Whistlebird just a few miles from home. Aside from the whistlebird there are another 3-4 rarities I might try to track down in the first full day of the year. I plan to spend a good chunk of the day in the field, checking river, lakes, wetlands, fields, forest edges, a couple feeders, and maybe even a state park or two. A big day one might mean 50-100 species of birds right out the gates. That means a lot of naming conventions to come up with and being ever so clever as to not give up my location.
As for right now, time to go bid farewell to this glorious year. As for birding, well check back tomorrow night and see how things went...
FOLLOW ALONG:
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