Its December 31st 2013 and here we are - New Years Eve is upon us again and it starts all over again. Starts all over again? A Non-birder might ask. But, for a Birder, New Years Morning is one of the funnest mornings of the year. The Year List starts all over again and every bird species becomes new, one time, until the following year.
Unless a Black Rail magically flies into the flooded creek below my house, and calls, my final count for 2013 will be 432 species, just 5 short of my 2011 record. And my Year List for my own state of Virginia will be 288 - a number that put me in 3rd place for eBird in Virginia this year.
There are several rarities in my area right now, and tomorrow they become new again. My Godmother Eve, my mom, and I will be spending the day tracking down these birds, hoping to "twitch" them onto our year lists - Snowy Owl, Brewer's Blackbird, Trumpeter Swan, and Greater White-fronted Goose are all birds I hope to get tomorrow, or very soon. They're in the area, and great to get "out of the way" so early on. Snowy Owl I didn't get 'till December this year, and had it not been an irruption year, I would've dipped it. Brewer's Blackbird I got in Montana this year, and probably will again in 2014, but certainly would be nice to get it out of the way now, especially for Virginia! Trumpeter Swan is never a sure thing anywhere, and I got it in Ohio in May this year. Again, probably will again, but certainly nice to have it out of the way so early on, especially for Virginia! As for Greater White-fronted Goose, it along with the Snowy Owl is the one I REALLY want to get tomorrow, it's do or die, now or nothing. I could have easily missed it for 2013 (I did for 2012), and would be suuuuuuuuuuuuper nice to have it out of the way on the first day of the year for 2014!
I'll post my Day 1 of 365 2014 results tomorrow.
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