May has been going well. I actually had a 12 day streak of finding at least one new year bird every day starting on the 9th up until the 20th. Crazy as it may seem but that was the longest streak of days with new year birds in 2016. I only made it 8 days into 2016 before I had a zero day and I thought for sure that I wouldn't best that. Who knew May would be so prolific? Sadly the streak did end over the weekend while I chose to take a little break from the chaos. There were a couple potential misses that will result from not making it out--but I'd been birding so much the past 3 weeks, I needed to take the bench for a few innings.
That didn't mean I wasn't right back at it on Monday. There was one sighting over the weekend of a regularly occurring migrant that had managed to escape my grasp somehow. It seemed like this spring was not a great one for them here in Narnia, and that would have potentially been an issue as it was a completely expected species. I knew this bird wasn't the kind to just up and leave overnight when they show up. Traditionally they are seen for a number of days when they do arrive so I knew I could chance waiting till Monday.
I was up early and out the door. During big years there are certain places you find yourself over and over again looking for birds. This morning marked my 4th visit to The Runway this month. The Runway is a hot spot that will turn up a good chunk of specialty birds for me in 2016--but it is also birded often by many so when I am there I risk being seen by others. This morning I was in and out in under an hour and arriving just after sunup I avoided any other birders. I snagged my year Strapping Hiker without having to even exit the car.
Given the success, I had some time to kill so headed to a nearby park where I might be able to turn up a decent bird reported over the weekend. I also ran the risk of running into other birders since there was a rarity reported. I only made it 100' from my parking space when an old friend appeared. Busted. I could play this one one cool though and I did. We split up to look and neither one of us turned up the rarity. But a singing Obvious Singer was new for 2016 and was a relief since I had chased and missed 2 already this year.
Eventually another birder I knew showed up and I decided it was time to high tail it. For many this would mark the end of their birding for the day, but during a big year, in a big bird month like May, I ventured to a nearby woodlot to see if I could uncover something unexpected. There is no doubt in my mind, that I am on a hot streak right now, and luck seems to be in my favor on an unprecedented scale. So I don't know if I should be surprised or not when I can heard the calling Trivial Hustler from the woodlot. It's the first report this spring in Narnia but the call is unmistakable. Eventually I got some good looks at it in the trees before it disappeared. It's unreal the luck I've been having.
This hustler marks the 292nd species for my 2016 big year. This is my 100th new year bird in the past 5 weeks and my 76th new year bird in May alone. May has been pretty incredible, and I'm simply running out of targets at this point. That's all I will say right now. Come the first week of June, I might say a little bit more about what a crazy month it's been...
New birds today: 3
Year List: 292
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I knew when migration hit in full stride I would start picking up year birds in bulk. The last week had been great, and today I reached the proverbial summit. Year birds were popping up at every turn, and by the end of the day I had added 12 species to my list. In a sense it was the culmination of migration even though we're still in the midst of it for several more weeks. I won't dwell on that but instead talk about the birds.
I packed a full day of birding in, because it being the height of migration meant there was a lot to see. The morning started with my year Garden Exile. This simple but elegant bird is limited here in Narnia and there are a handful of very reliable locations to see it. I would have knocked it out in the coming weeks, but saved myself further search with the easy add. I headed to a popular migrant destination with hopes of netting a vagrant of some sorts--instead I found the trees dripping with hustlers... They had been scant thus far but in a matter of 2 hours I had wrangled up 5 new species for the year. I won't wax about the hustlers, only to say by process of eliminating other groups of birds, you might be able to guess the family. Tree-top, River, Tiny-billed, Arid, and Hillside Hustlers were all new, and filled some major gaps in my list.
Despite the searching, I couldn't find anything out of the normal though. It was the middle of migration and while getting the usual suspects is needed, you have to come up with some good unexpected birds to really make an impact. I worked my way along a lake where I picked up my American Kink and Usual Hiker for the year. The viewing conditions were horrendous though, and I am 2 species short in one category for spring migration. I might be able to snag them in the fall, but I can seriously see me missing one of the two all together. I had both in my previous attempt, so they were must-gets for 2016.
As the day continued I spotted a surprise Kettle Sentinel. I figured this would be a September addition, and still hope for another so I can get a photograph. I missed the opportunity today, and hate to leave anything without photo.
As the day came to an end I added 3 more year birds in Glorious Singer, Moth Thief, and Forest Bellower. All were easy finds and I will see/hear plenty of each in the coming months which is a good things since I passed on any photos I might have been able to get.
The next two weeks will probably fly by and then the slow 7 month drag begins. I waited all winter for May, and its already 1/2 over. This game is the ultimate hustle. Like the hustlers I saw this morning, I have to take advantage of every opportunity I get. For them it's food, for me, everyday I'm hustling to make sure I find as many birds as possible in 2016.
New birds today: 12
Year List: 276
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The waiting game can drive a person nuts. Whether its knowing there is a rarity to chase that you can't quite get away to look at yet--or--just knowing there are new birds arriving everyday and wanting to get out to look for them, but can't because of the weather, time, or any number of things. There is also the waiting game of having a planned trip and having to wait while you see others pile onto their year lists while yours slowly creeps higher. The waiting game, especially in the age of eBird can be maddening.
For the past week I've meandered around picking up a few new birds as they arrive and/or head north. The first Obvious Hikers of the year showed up and I'll have to admit--I didn't report them. They're common enough, and I wanted to keep my day list a secret. The day also turned up both American and Usual Loungers, and my first Dusky Yellowchests of the season. I didn't get a picture as the yellow chests were just an audible. I've only had a handful of audibles this year that I haven't gotten pictures of, so my hopes remain high that I'll find some later to take pictures of. As of today I added 7 species since my previous post--and am still missing some of the most common arrivals of the season...
Today I am playing the waiting game for the month of May. April has been kind to my year list, but not as kind as I had hoped. I had planned to have 2 more major birding outings for the month which would have probably netted 50+ species, but it looks like both trips will be pushed back to May. May will be busy. I will be fitting a lot of birding into a few days spread out of the month. In between specific outings to help build my list, I'll be trying to spend several hours every morning in the field, playing the odds, and hoping to find a few rare birds to help pad my year. And the wait is killing me.
I expect May will produce no less than 74 new years birds, and maybe as many as 89. If I pick up 89 that will put me right at 300 species five months into 2016. That's a good place to be at going into June. June should net another 10-15 new species before things slow down for July. Then fall migration will hit and we'll be right back at it. So you might be thinking, this undercover birders is telling me that 1/2 way through the year they think they'll have around 310-315 species of birds. What does that leave for the following 6 months?
I won't get into the specifics of that yes as its still 2 months away, and everything right now is speculation. That number might key you in on a handful of states to look at--but your list should have been narrowed considerably at this point. I'm not going to give any clues away in the next two months that will help though. No proper names, no narrowing of states, nothing. May and June are all about the birding and hammering away at the have-to-gets, and the have-to-chases. For now I'm impatiently waiting for the next new year bird, and the birding that will follow over the next 60 days!
New birds this post: 7
Year List: 211
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