How Is Your 2017 List Going? (2 Viewers)

Went out to Delta del Llobregat, next to Barcelona airport, today for a bit of birding and managed to fill in a few gaps on the list. Didn't find my target Moustached Warblers, however.

315. Iberian Green Woodpecker
316. Cetti's Warbler
317. Western Swamphen
318. Eurasian Hoopoe
319. Crested Lark
320. Black-necked Grebe

With the year almost running out, still trying to catch a few species. Had some good luck - and good fun - in Dubai. The Indian Roller especially was quite the sight.


10 December

Safa Park, Dubai, UAE
257. Eurasian Curlew
258. Eurasian Collared-Dove
259. Pallid Swift
260. Eurasian Hoopoe
261. Indian Roller
262. Red-vented Bulbul
263. White-eared Bulbul
264. Graceful Prinia
265. Asian Pied Starling

Latest Lifer: 649 : Asian Pied Starling (Safa Park, Dubai, UAE; December 2017)

Nightjar61 said:

Today I drove over to Bethesda, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C., to twitch a Shiny Cowbird that has been coming to a feeder for about a month or so. I saw my target within a fairly short period of time. Not only was it a year bird, it was also an ABA Area lifer.

212. Shiny Cowbird

Shiny Cowbirds established a toehold in extreme southern Florida in the mid-1980s and individual birds occasionally range far to the north.

Dave

Click to expand...

Hey Dave, glad you found it. I live in Chevy Chase, a suburb of Bethesda, if you're ever nearby again. Best, Martin

A few more to round out the year.

14 December

Khalidiyah, Abu Dhabi, UAE
266. Alexandrine Parakeet

23 December

Kerns Area, Portland, OR, USA
267. Pine Siskin
268. Lesser Goldfinch

Latest Lifer: 649 : Asian Pied Starling (Safa Park, Dubai, UAE; December 2017)

Catching some more winter birds in Portland.

Off to Park City, Utah today for a few days of skiing and hope to see a few more birds for the year.

24 December

Laurelhurst Park, Portland, OR, USA
269. Red-breasted Nuthatch
270. Pacific Wren
271. Bewick's Wren

Latest Lifer: 651 : Bewick's Wren (Laurelhurst Park, Portland, OR, USA; December 2017)

Two more birds to round off my year list.

28 December

The Canyons, Park City, UT, USA
272. Black-billed Magpie
273. Mountain Chickadee

Latest Lifer: 652 : Mountain Chickadee, The Canyons, Park City, UT, USA; December 2017)

Dear all,

As the year draws to a close, I am happy to have seen 273 birds this year, a wide improvement over my previous record of 230 last year. I also managed to lift my life list by 83 new species to 652.

I was fortunate to have had some work trips to foreign locales that made for some fruitful birding – including Japan, Malta, Oman and Paraguay – as well as personal travel to other cool places such as Norway and Panama.

Not sure what opportunities next year will bring. I note, especially in my own patch, that the appearance of many once common birds seem to be few and far between, and I hope that collectively we can do what we can to support our local ecosystems for all wildlife.

Happy holidays to you all and best wishes for a year of fruitful birding in 2018!

Martin
Chevy Chase, MD, USA

This morning I saw what is most likely my last new bird of the year, so I ended up at 213.

213. Rough-legged Hawk

Dave

Final 2017 tally: 519 species

Work is usually done for the year by early December for us, so taking a big end-of-year trip has become a tradition in our house. This trip wasn’t exclusively for birds, but I made the most of our time. After 2016’s personal record of 411 species, I told myself 2017 was the year to crack 500. Happy to say I succeeded, thanks in no small part to closing out the year in Vietnam and Cambodia. Here’s a breakdown of my birds through Dec 31st:

Dec 19th - 14-hr layover in Seoul, South Korea; had a chance to bird for a couple hours with a nice local guide I would recommend - Byoungwoo Lee, who was very accommodating with my tight schedule (website: http://www.birdingkorea.com/ and email: ecobirdtour ’AT’ naver ‘DOT’ com):
445. Eurasian Magpie (Oriental Magpie subspecies)
446. Eastern Spot-billed Duck (lifer)
447. Grey Heron
448. Taiga Bean-Goose (lifer)
449. Eurasian Spoonbill (lifer)
450. White Wagtail (Black-backed subspecies lugens)
451. Green Sandpiper (lifer)
452. Eurasian Wigeon
453. Oriental Turtle-Dove (lifer)
454. Tundra Bean-Goose
455. Vinous-throated Parrotbill (lifer)
456. Carrion Crow
457. Smew (lifer)
458. White-tailed Eagle (lifer)
459. Japanese Tit (lifer)
460. Marsh Tit
461. Daurian Redstart (lifer)
462. Yellow-throated Bunting (lifer)
463. Eurasian Eagle-Owl (lifer)
464. Great Cormorant
465. Brown-eared Bulbul (lifer)
466. Eurasian Coot
467. Tufted Duck
468. Common Pochard
469. Common Sandpiper (lifer)

A few days exploring Hanoi (Dec 20-22) - not birding focused, just seeing the sights. Still, surprisingly little bird life in the city:
470. Japanese White-eye (lifer)
471. Yellow-browed Warbler (lifer)
472. Common Tailorbird (lifer)
473. Oriental Magpie-Robin (lifer)

Dec 23-27: Onward to the north Vietnam mountain province of Ha Giang (bordering China) - only accessible by bus. A few solid days of trekking through the forests and staying with local villagers was organized by the very cool Ha Giang Responsible Tourism (https://hagiangresponsibletourism.wordpress.com/). It’s not bird-related, but $ goes to support the local ethnic minority hosts that you visit, and they have access to hiking trails you wouldn’t otherwise. Though I was on my own with ID, the birds that I got good looks at were amazing:
474. Asian Palm-Swift (lifer)
475. White-throated Fantail (lifer)
476. Dark-necked Tailorbird (lifer)
477. Chinese Blackbird (lifer)
478. Red-rumped Swallow (lifer)
479. Eurasian Kestrel
480. White-spectacled Warbler (lifer)
481. Hill Prinia (lifer)
482. Olive-backed Sunbird (lifer)
483. Black Bulbul (lifer)
484. White-rumped Munia (lifer)
485. Black-crested Bulbul (lifer)
486. Grey Bushchat (lifer)
487. Green-billed Malkoha (lifer)
488. Greater Coucal (lifer)
489. Green-eared Barbet (lifer)
490. Plain Prinia (lifer)
491. Long-tailed Shrike (lifer)
492. Grey-breasted Prinia (lifer)
493. Stonechat (Siberian/Stejneger’s - my basal list is AOU which stunningly maintains the most boring and out-of-date sensu lato approach possible to this species complex. Armchair tick down the road!)
494. Chinese Pond-Heron (lifer)
495. Puff-throated Bulbul (lifer)
496. Grey Wagtail
497. Silver-eared Mesia (lifer)
498. Plumbeous Redstart (lifer)

Final stop for 2017: Angkor Wat! The birds of Siem Reap and two days at the temples were a great way to close out the year. I hit 500 upon arrival at the Siem Reap airport:
499. Common Myna (lifer)
500. Black Drongo (lifer)
501. House Swift (lifer)
502. Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher (lifer)
503. Ashy Drongo (lifer)
504. Red-breasted Parakeet (lifer)
505. Cotton Pygmy-Goose (lifer)
506. Oriental Darter (lifer)
507. Shikra (lifer)
508. Germain’s Swiftlet (lifer)
509. Great Myna (lifer)
510. Blue Rock-Thrush (lifer)
511. Coppersmith Barbet (lifer)
512. Black-naped Oriole (lifer)
513. Hainan Blue Flycatcher (lifer)
514. Alexandrine Parakeet (lifer **#900**)
515. Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker (lifer)
516. Zebra Dove (lifer)
517. Yellow-vented Bulbul (lifer)
518. Asian Brown Flycatcher (lifer)
519. Plain-throated Sunbird (lifer)

Stay tuned for Cambodia part 2, starting in 2018 coming to a thread near you...