Thursday, January 8, 2009

Birding in 2008

My birding year 2008 was a productive one. I got to take several trips, met new birding buddies, and picked up a grand total of 30 Life Birds, which brought my Life List to 309 species. For the year, I had 202 species, which blows my old record of 180 out of the water.

In January, I took a trip to the Orlando, Florida for a veterinary convention, and extended it with a visit to my family. I got 11 Life Birds there, including my number one target bird for the trip, the Florida Scrub-Jay.


I visited Magee Marsh Wildlife Area and Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge in May for International Migratory Bird Day weekend, where I picked up Gray-cheeked Thrush and a heard-only Sedge Wren.

I did several day trips locally. One was with Oxbow, Inc., to bird the Oxbow area of the Ohio River, in southeastern Indiana. I picked up two Life Birds here - Stilt Sandpipers and my 300th bird, Green-winged Teal. Another was organized and run by the Cincinnati Bird Club to East Fork State Park, where I got Glaucous Gull as a Lifer.

I joined the Cincinnati Nature Center on their Saturday morning walks once or twice, plus, I did the Cincinnati Christmas Bird Count in December. No lifers on any of these trips, but good birding nonetheless. And, I birded alone quite a bit, which always refreshes my spirit.

I chased some birds that I didn't get - the Black Rail near Circleville and the Preble County Snowy Owl. That's OK; if we got them all the first time, birding would be boring.

Life Birds in 2008

BRANT [nj]
MOTTLED DUCK[fla]
GREEN-WINGED TEAL[ind, nj]
SURF SCOTER [nj]
WHITE-WINGED SCOTER [nj]
BLACK SCOTER [nj]
GLAUCOUS GULL [East Fork State Park, OH]
LAUGHING GULL [fla, nj]


Black Skimmers, Forster's Terns
and Laughing Gull, New Jersey


FRANKLIN’S GULL [East Fork State Park, OH]
ROYAL TERN [fla]
FORSTER’S TERN [fla, nj]
BLACK TERN [Armleder Park, OH]
BLACK SKIMMER [nj]
LITTLE BLUE HERON [fla]
TRICOLORED HERON [fla]
AMERICAN BITTERN [fla, Ottawa NWR, OH]

American Bittern, Florida

GLOSSY IBIS [fla]
WHITE IBIS [fla]
ROSEATE SPOONBILL [fla]
AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER [nj]

SANDERLING [nj]
STILT SANDPIPER [ind]
SHORT-EARED OWL
[Armleder Park, OH]

Short-eared Owl, Ohio

NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL [near Mason, OH]
ALDER FLYCATCHER [Charlie's Pond, Circleville, OH]

FLORIDA SCRUB-JAY [fla]
SEDGE WREN [heard only, Magee Marsh, OH]
GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH [
Magee Marsh, OH]
HENSLOW’S SPARROW [Charlie's Pond, Circleville, OH]
GRASSHOPPER SPARROW [Charlie's Pond, Circleville, OH]

Henslow's Sparrow, Ohio

new Yard Birds for 2008:

Pine Warbler
Rusty Blackbird

How was your birding year?



8 comments:

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

My birding year was great because
I MET YOU!!!!!

Dawn Fine said...

What a great birdie year you had!
Well...
I havent yet started counting year birds..In fact.I didnt know until recently that so many birders did year lists...
But so far...We have had some great birdies here in Florida!
Wishing you an even greater birdie year in 20091

Mary said...

Oh, my. Your list puts me to shame... I guess I picked up about 10 lifers. Actually, I don't keep a list but if I thumbed through my field guides, I could make one. I remember them all well. When I get out of my backyard (late April), I'll consider a list.

NCmountainwoman said...

You really did have a great birding year. Hope 2009 is even better.

Kathie Brown said...

Now you've got me thinking. I don't know how many new birds I added to my life list last year. I shall have to go and check. What a great way to take inventory for the year and set new goals for the next. I can't wait to meet you in WV. We'll have to compare lists! Congrats on all the new lifers you got this past year!

cestoady said...

CONGRATULATIONS !!! on achieving such a fine list of new birds for 2008. Having done so well in the past year, lets hope you continue to do so in '09 and future years

As your post demonstrates,birders are such lucky people, because where ever one goes there are always beautiful birds, new and old, to observe. A big bonus is that the birds keep the company of such fine people.

nina at Nature Remains. said...

Haven't started to keep my experiences in list form, either.
And, I'm not sure that I will--I'm afraid it might complicate what I'd like to keep as a relaxing pastime? Or, maybe that's because I still struggle so much, it stresses me out!
I do really look forward to lists for short term gains, though--like the GBBC!
Can't wait!

Your year was a great one!

dguzman said...

That is probably the most beautiful pic of an American Bittern evah! Love it. I need to do a lifers from 2008 post too!