• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

How is your 2012 List Going? (1 Viewer)

I was awakened at 5:00 this morning by a pair of owls hooting outside my bedroom window. I got up, got dressed, grabbed the binoculars, and went out to look for them. It was a beautiful night illuminated by the almost-full moon with sparkling snow on the ground. As I stepped outside, an owl flew from a tree and across the yard. Not a great look, but considering how hard it is to find a Great Horned Owl during the day around here, good enough.

103. Great Horned Owl

Dave
 
27/15 days so far

not many compared to other birders,
but my first "big (maybe little or moderate) year"

as with Peter C. above, a way to exercise, bird, and walk the dogs,
and my wife did not believe I could multitask

edj
 
Last edited:
An exciting hour at a fellow-birder's house in Houston produced:
134. Buff-bellied Hummingbird (lifer)
135. Rufous Hummingbird
136. Broad-tailed Hummingbird
137. Wilson's Warbler

Funny how many people (and books / websites) still suggest that the only hummers in the eastern US are Ruby-throated!

Jeff
www.jeffincypress.blogspot.com
 
Last edited:
Ack! Heavens, don't do that! The idea is to associate the birding with something "character building"* so as to encourage a person to do more of it.
:t:

Peter

*As my dad would have said - anything unpleasant "built character".


"birds seen while drinking" should give some interesting responses

edj
 
I believe that currently all the "red-tailed hawks" are, Buteo jamaicensis, as to species. There are Harlan's, Krider's, eastern, western, intermediates, light morph, dark morph, rufous morph, etc. These are considered to be subspecies/color morphs/geographic variations/etc. This page from Avibase will give you some idea of the variety of Red-tailed Hawks, http://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/avibase.jsp , just go here and "Search", "Red-tailed Hawk".

Perhaps at some later date some of these may attain full species status. So, it might be a good idea just to keep track of all the variations which you observe. But, for the present they are all Red-tailed Hawks!
 
I added two birds to my 2012 Missouri List today:

83. White-crowned Sparrow, at Bluff Woods Conservation Area, Halls, Missouri
84. Herring Gull, Lake Contrary, Saint Joseph, Missouri
 
does seeing a standard Red Tailed Hawk
and
seeing a Harlan morph RTH

count as one or two sightings?

thanks
edj

Up to you. It's your list, your rules. (Not that everybody here would agree with me...)

I do set rules for myself, though - don't think there's anything wrong with that. I just follow a particular checklist, and only count the full species on it. So, for me, those two would count as one.
 
I'm quite behind the norm here.

37. House Sparrow (made it to Jan 12th without)
38. Red-tailed Hawk
39. Common Grackle
40. Common Chaffinch (Local rarity: Rehman's feeder, NJ - acceptance pending)
41. House Finch
42. Snow Goose
43. Snowy Owl (Local rarity: Merill Creek Reservoir, NJ)
44. Northern Harrier
 
A mad twitch to Norfolk yesterday by a bunch of we Yorkshire lads added 49 species to my list, taking it to 109 for the year so far. Very easily the best January figures I've ever achieved, and there are still 2 weeks to go before February starts.
 
Last edited:
I went out to nearby Bluff Woods Conservation Area this morning and did not pick a single new year bird. I am "holding steady" at 84.

* Oh, that 84 is for number of species this year, not an indication of my age!
 
I went out to nearby Bluff Woods Conservation Area this morning and did not pick a single new year bird. I am "holding steady" at 84.

* Oh, that 84 is for number of species this year, not an indication of my age!

If you were 84, you probably wouldn't be "holding steady," Larry. Well, not your binoculars anyway.

Jeff
 
Found one new bird today, so I'm now up to 104. It's a bird that's not easy to find around here, and one I could easily miss for the year.

104. American Pipit

Dave
 
One more new bird today, also:

85. Yellow-rumped Warbler, Lake Contrary area, Saint Joseph, Missouri

* I can not believe that I still do not have an American Robin for this year! :eek!:
 
One more new bird today, also:

85. Yellow-rumped Warbler, Lake Contrary area, Saint Joseph, Missouri

* I can not believe that I still do not have an American Robin for this year! :eek!:

Nice to know the yellow rumps are in town.
Had my first (Amer) robin in burr oak of backyard this morning.
 
We had an ice storm here yesterday, so the birds are coming to the trees with berries in my yard to find something to eat, including a new bird for the year.

105. Cedar Waxwing

This is a bird I should have seen the first day of the year, and I've been birding hard to fine one, so it was nice to pick one up from the kitchen table.

Dave
 
I feel the same about Red-headed Woodpeckers, which are usually common in our area. I haven't seen one yet and it seems few other birders have either. I imagine it's at least partly because so many trees have been lost here as a result of the drought.

Jeff
www.jeffincypress.blogspot.com

It's the opposite here Jeff. We're overrun with Red-headed Woodpeckers, mainly because we had a bumper crop of acorns. On a local Christmas Bird Count last month, we smashed the old record for Red-headed Woodpeckers. My group alone had 38, and usually we're lucky to find one or two.

Dave
 
Warning! This thread is more than 11 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top