Bird-A-Day Challenge
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01/14/2011
I am not a “lister.” I just want to be upfront about that. Yet, here I am on Day 14 of a strange new quest that has me, yes, listing birds. Many serious and even casual birders keep lists of the birds they’ve seen: life lists, year lists, state lists, backyard lists, and on an on. But this is a different type of list. I’m listing a bird for every day of the year—just one bird a day. The goal is never to repeat a species, nor to go a day without seeing a new one. Yes, I, a casual birder, have decided to engage in a very challenging—some might say impossible—game. For however long I last, I’ll be writing about my progress here on Audubon Magazine’s blog The Perch. As the days go on, I’ll fill in the details of the 14 birds I’ve seen so far, and update the list. Maybe you would like to play along, or just follow my follies. Either way, I’d be happy for the company. A few weeks (or maybe even days) from now, when I’ve gone through all the birds at my feeders, gulls and ducks that I can see on my riverside commute to NYC, and park pigeons and house sparrows outside my office window, I’m going to need all the support I can get.
Day 1: Common Redpoll
Day 2: Red-tailed Hawk
Day 3: Downy Woodpecker
Day 4: Pigeon
Day 5: Greater Scaup
Day 6: Snow Goose
Day 7: Carolina Wren
Day 8: Red-Bellied Woodpecker
Day 9: Canvasback
Day 10: Junco
Day 11: Great Black-Backed Gull
Day 12: American Crow
Day 13: Bald Eagle
Day 14: Still to be determined. The day is young….
Comments
Another great article, just
Another great article, just bookmark it
keep this good work..
Baja ringan
Hi Rene, one of my birding
Hi Rene, one of my birding friends told me of your attempt at Bird A Day and said you were going to blog about your efforts. I thought I would check out your blog and let you know there are about 20+ of us doing the Bird A Day thing together and posting our efforts online.
This is the 4th year I have had the BirdADay.net website up and running. It makes doing the list more fun as you are able to observe others and receive encouragement along the way.
You are welcome to join us if you like. You already have a list started and it would be easy to add your current observations. My friend Chris T. mentioned that someone else was doing it with you also. You may recognize some of the people participating. Most of us live in South Florida but others are from other parts of our hemisphere.
If you are interested in participating let me know and I'll setup an account so you can login and add your observations.
http://www.birdaday.net
Hi Trey, Thanks for dropping
Hi Trey,
Thanks for dropping me a note! Congrats on your 4th year with the website. I'd love to talk more. Maybe drop me an email so we can set up a good time: rebersole@audubon.org.
Looking forward to hearing more about your efforts.-R
I am trying a similar but
I am trying a similar but much easier 'see 365 birds in a year' challenge. I am currently 34 birds ahead of schedule. I shall follow your thoughts with interest. http://birdsbadlybaltimore.blogspot.com/
I like this idea of 365
I like this idea of 365 birds a year. That seems more doable to me and, when I get to a prime birding spot, the opportunity is not lost!
That's a good one! I like
That's a good one! I like it. Maybe I'll try that one next.
Today I saw a flock of 10
Today I saw a flock of 10 Wood Storks.
Rene, What a wonderful
Rene, What a wonderful challenge! I look forward to following your daily list! I hope you will provide anticdotes as to how you locate each of your daily species - you will surely have some entertaining stories to tell! (Perhaps a book-- The Diary of a Non-Lister?)
I like this idea. The
I like this idea. The Christmas Bird count throughout the year.... kind of like making a resolution on the new year, hopefully one can keep it up. Tip: while checking your personal calendar (I do daily) write down the bird you saw at breakfast....
I decided to try this year,
I decided to try this year, but my list is crashing and burning fast. I thought I would have more time for birding but apparently we are looking to buy a house (rather suddenly) so all birding time has been diverted to house hunting.
I did this last year and
I did this last year and made it to mid-March before giving up the ghost. It's a fin little game until you get to the end. Be careful. :)
That sounds like fun. I
That sounds like fun. I might try that. Until it snowed, I was worried that something had happened to all the birds. Usually in the winter the number of birds was incredible around my feeders but this year I was sincerely worried at the paltry few who came to my feeders. Since it snowed and got a coating of ice on top, there have been at least 20 male cardinals on the feeders and waiting in what I call "The Waiting Tree". Still no bluebirds. There are some near here, but the one who used to hang around here seem to have flown the coop.