WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT RESOURCES

Although the year was a marathon it would gradually turn into a sprint by December.  I lived on ebird trying to find new year birds.  I traveled to twelve states and one Canadian Province.  My year long journey was full of adventures. I made new friends and rekindled old ones. I did some of the most hardcore birding I’ve ever done with some of the greatest birders I’ve ever met. I was truly amazed at how often people were genuinely interested in helping me along the way.  I owe each and every one of them an enormous thank you.

My year started and ended in California. I worked over the Central Valley, the Bay Area, the Central Coast, and the Sierras, plus two pelagic trips on the Pacific Ocean.  California was it for me with more than 60% of my birds coming from the state. I started my year out with a Tundra Swan and ended with a Bell’s Sparrow.  I did learn one thing about myself though, pelagic birding is over for me.  Eight hours on the Pacific Ocean out of Monterey Bay with eight-foot swells put that to rest. Being nauseous and vomiting for eight hours, literally as we left the dock, is no fun.  I had amazing days of birding with Stuart Angerer, Matt Forster, Liam Huber (Birding Prodigy), Dan Skalos, Mike Skram, and Lucas Stephenson (Birding Prodigy). I can’t say enough about this group. Their birding knowledge and constant ebird updates (Dan) were critical to my years success. I think they had as much fun as I did!

My first of eight trips this year was to Delaware. Work sent me east in February for meetings.  My friend, Jim Whatton, guided me around the Atlantic coast for a day.  We hit all the coastal refuge, beaches, and jetties. We didn’t have huge numbers of species, but we had 15 essential species that I wouldn’t see anywhere or at any other time of the year.  Jim is an amazing birder. His itinerary for the day was perfect.  On this trip I checked off my first lifer of the year: a Pink Footed Goose. It took us a few hours of scanning through thousands of Snow Geese, but it finally made an appearance. Other species that day included King Eider, Razorbills, Lesser Black-backed Gull, and Snow Buntings. We ended the day at Prime Hook NWR getting divebombed and almost hit by Woodcocks. The trip would set the pace for the rest of the year. Can’t wait to go back!

By late March, I was on a plane to Tampa, Florida to bird with my friend and Floridian Chris Rassmussen. We travelled 1,300 miles over the course of five days hitting both coasts and everything in-between. We bounced around the parks of Miami looking for parakeets, warblers, and flycatchers.  Multiple excursions into Everglades National Parks gave us Seaside Sparrows, Wood Storks, and Black Skimmers to name a few.  I was about two weeks too early for peak birding, but we still amassed a nice list of birds, getting 80 targets. The best bird of the trip was no doubt the Red-legged Honeycreeper in this tiny little park in Miami.  A bird left over from one of the hurricanes, plus a La Sagra’s Flycatcher on Biscayne Key.  The other sad but great thing about Florida was the non-natives introduced birds. We racked up nine ABA countable species, only Hawaii would give me more. I can’t say enough about Chris. He was just as motivated as I was. You were great!

By late April, spring migration was in full swing, and I made the first of two trips to southern Texas.  Stuart Angerer and I met in McAllen with a lengthy list of target birds.  During our eight-day campaign, we traveled 2,300 miles and found 243 species of birds.  Stuart and I started in the Rio Grande Valley for Great Kiskadee’s, Green Jays, and Long-billed Thrashers. We worked our way up the coast from South Padre Island and onto High Island.  Spring migration in Texas is different, birds aren’t singing, they don’t hang around, and they are constantly on the move.  We checked off Brown Jays, Muscovy Ducks (wild), Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet, Aplomado Falcon, and 21 species of warblers. The coast was productive. We then traveled inland for way too many hours and then looped back to the Rio Grande River picking up Tropical Parula, Golden Cheeked Warbler, and Black-capped Vireo. Texas is an enormous state with amazing birding and that’s why I would be back in December. This would be my last trip until the end of July when I would travel to southeast Arizona.

Stuart would again join me for the birding specialties of Southeast Arizona, a mecca for birders.  The number of species only found in SE Arizona is just remarkable. It is one of my favorite places to bird in all North America and by the end of July it can be a great time.  So, for six sweltering days in the desert, we birded.  We had a good list of targets. Luckily, Arizona is well birded, which made birding easier.  We picked up more than 90% of our targets only missing nine species. The hummingbirds alone (14 species) were worth the visit. I picked up three lifers: Mexican Whip-poor-will, Common Blackhawk, and Chihuahuan Meadowlark. This was Stuarts last trip of the year with me. We had a fantastic year of birding.  Stuart, you’re a great person and birder, I hope you get to do your own Big Year one day.

September saw me traveling for work again to Kelowna British, Columbia for a conference. My two-day post conference trip was short but well worth the time. By September and with three months left to go, new year birds began to get scarce.  I met a great local birder and new friend Jesse Hannebaure.  My list of targets was short, about 11 and we got seven. Probably the best was the Great Gray Owl. No doubt it was an unforgettable two days in the back country of British Columbia.

Work asked me to be an instructor for airport training in Hawaii of all places.  Seriously, what are the freakin odds of that? Hawaii was my second to last trip of the year. It’s ABA countable, kind of a cheat in my opinion but it counts!  Two days on Oahu and two days on the Big Island were just amazing. With the help of local bird man Tim Ohashi, I amassed a list of 38 year birds but sad to say 23 of those were introduced.  The Big Island got me my 600^th year bird on October 22 with an Oma’o. The birds in Hawaii, especially the native honeycreepers, Apapane, Iiwi, and Hawaii Amakihi were just beautiful. I spent a few hours on a sea watch as well and picked up a Wedge-tailed Shearwater and Great Frigatebird to top the list off. The Hawaiians were the most laid-back friendliest people I met all year.

By November, I was no longer in the lead. My number was 621 and my competition was at 629 with 40 plus days to go. For the most part I had exhausted California for birds I could travel to and wasn’t feeling optimistic.  I had no other choice but to continue to play my game and hope for the best.  If I had any chance of taking the lead, I had to travel. Texas was prime and full of rare birds by December.  With enough miles for a free ticket and permission from Rebecca I was on my way.  I would meet Brandon Nooner, one great birder, in Harlingen, Texas for three days of birding. It was the only trip in which I got every single target bird.  All the credit goes to Brandon for that. He had our itinerary planned out perfectly. I tallied an unprecedented seven life birds on the trip: Whooping Cranes (19), Roadside Hawk, Gray Collared Becard, Golden Crowned Warbler, and Crimson Collared Grosebeak to name a few.

Texas was my last trip of the year and I only added two more year birds after that trip, Clarks Nutcracker and a stakeout spot Liam Huber had for Bell’s Sparrow would end the year. Big birding trips are great, but I can’t forget, the singles throughout the year. There were so many, such as the Kirtland’s Warbler in northern Michigan with Dana Novak and the Eastern Whip-poor-will with Kurt Garver in Ohio. They all added up to one big number by the end. 

By my best estimation I traveled 45,100 miles, adding 45 ABA birds to my life list. I chased down 14 species of owls, 17 species of hummingbirds, 22 species of woodpeckers, 32 species of sparrows, and 48 species of warblers.

So, if you’ve made it this far, and I hope you have, my end of the year number was 637 species. I never imagined I would see that many species in one year. And I won!

Notable rare birds I saw: Red-flanked Bluetail (CA), Plain capped Starthroat (AZ), Rose throated Becard (AZ), Red-necked Stint (CA), Red-footed Booby (CA), Pink-footed Goose (DE), King Eider (DE), Red-legged Honeycreeper (FL), La Sagra’s Flycatcher (FL), Tropical Parula (TX), Morelet’s Seedeater (TX), Crimson Collared Grosbeak (TX), Roadside Hawk (TX), Gray-collard Becard (TX), and Golden-crowned Warbler (TX).

Notable misses: Black-legged Kittiwake, California Gnatcatcher, Sooty Grouse, Spruce Grouse, Scott’s Oriole, Flame Colored Tanager, Tufted Puffin, Rufous capped Warbler, American Golden Plover, Bristle-thighed Curlew, Mute Swan, Purple Sandpiper, and Harris’s Sparrow.

I’d like to say thanks to Eric Kershner and the USFWS for letting me participate and being a part of their Big Year. Lastly, I can’t say enough about Team Jim, they were there for me. I’d like to say thanks to the following people for making my Big Year what it was: Stuart Angerer, Eidert Beeftink, Mike Begier, Rita Carratello, Stephen Chandler, Lucas Corneliussen, Ryan Cox, Craig Dodson, Eddie Earwood, Todd Easterla, Andy Forbes, Matt Forester, Rob Fowler, Kurt Garver, Jesse Hannebauer, John Hendrickson, Liam Huber, Erik Kershner, Jason Kougher, Tony Kurtz, Jack Jeffery, Jim Lomax, John Luther, Devon McBride, David McQuade, Randy Messick, Roy Morris, Brandon Nooner, Dana Novak, Kalin Ocana, Tim Ohashi, Chris Rassmussen, Walt Rhodes (Motivational speaker), Dan Skalos, Shannon Skalos, Mike Skram,  Lucas Stephenson, Jenny Washburn, and Jim Whatton.