Several people have reminded me in recent weeks that I needed to update my blog with my final tally of species for 2014. As I mentioned in a blog post last fall, I decided that I was happy at having exceeded my stated goal (170 species) and decided not to purse a new, revised numerical total in the remaining months of the year. That was a good decision, since the fall included some unexpected challenges that reduced my birding time during the last three months of the year.
The good news is that I did add a few more species and ended the year with 181 seen in the county (I don't think I had any heard-only species for the year, unless it was Barred Owl). My final species for the year was a Surf Scoter, found by Evan Spears at Briery Creek Lake on 3 Dec. He let me know about the bird soon after he found it and I was able to stop by the lake and see it on my way home from school that afternoon.
It's something of a tradition to wonder about the species that are missed on a Big Year. While I could compile a long list of species that I "should" have seen or "might" have seen, only a few species really stand out for me. All of them are species that I had seen in Prince Edward County before 2014, but missed for one reason or another during my Big Year.
First on the list is Red-breasted Nuthatch. Although the species was scarce in the area in 2014, after missing it in the early months of the year I still thought I would find one in the fall or early winter. I did not, maybe because my birding was so limited then.
I could make similar statements about Pine Siskins. Although I never saw one in Prince Edward in 2014, they were common at my home feeders (in Buckingham County) early this year. The first morning that I saw one hanging there eating my immediate response was, "where were you last year?"
Other misses that stood out were Northern Pintail and Common Merganser, perhaps because in general it was such a good year for waterfowl, and Worm-eating Warbler, because I'm especially fond of that species and just hated to miss it (I saw them in the Blue Ridge in 2014, just not in Prince Edward County). Lincoln's Sparrow was also a miss, again because of my reduced birding time in the fall, when I was counting on finding one in a weedy field. And, to finish the "miss list," I would say "shorebirds" in general. It was not a good year for finding shorebirds in Prince Edward, though there isn't much shorebird habitat here to begin with. But only six species of shorebirds is minimal, even here -- not even a Lesser Yellowlegs!
Enough complaining. The year was a success in terms of meeting my numerical goal, a learning experience, and a lot of fun. It gave me insights for my ongoing work on an annotated checklist and birding guide for the county. And it gives anyone else who is interested a number to shoot for. I don't doubt that 181 could be topped in Prince Edward County, as well as some adjacent counties in Virginia (especially Buckingham, which is larger and topographically more diverse, and Charlotte, which includes a little section of Kerr Reservoir). Who will do it?
The good news is that I did add a few more species and ended the year with 181 seen in the county (I don't think I had any heard-only species for the year, unless it was Barred Owl). My final species for the year was a Surf Scoter, found by Evan Spears at Briery Creek Lake on 3 Dec. He let me know about the bird soon after he found it and I was able to stop by the lake and see it on my way home from school that afternoon.
It's something of a tradition to wonder about the species that are missed on a Big Year. While I could compile a long list of species that I "should" have seen or "might" have seen, only a few species really stand out for me. All of them are species that I had seen in Prince Edward County before 2014, but missed for one reason or another during my Big Year.
First on the list is Red-breasted Nuthatch. Although the species was scarce in the area in 2014, after missing it in the early months of the year I still thought I would find one in the fall or early winter. I did not, maybe because my birding was so limited then.
I could make similar statements about Pine Siskins. Although I never saw one in Prince Edward in 2014, they were common at my home feeders (in Buckingham County) early this year. The first morning that I saw one hanging there eating my immediate response was, "where were you last year?"
Other misses that stood out were Northern Pintail and Common Merganser, perhaps because in general it was such a good year for waterfowl, and Worm-eating Warbler, because I'm especially fond of that species and just hated to miss it (I saw them in the Blue Ridge in 2014, just not in Prince Edward County). Lincoln's Sparrow was also a miss, again because of my reduced birding time in the fall, when I was counting on finding one in a weedy field. And, to finish the "miss list," I would say "shorebirds" in general. It was not a good year for finding shorebirds in Prince Edward, though there isn't much shorebird habitat here to begin with. But only six species of shorebirds is minimal, even here -- not even a Lesser Yellowlegs!
Enough complaining. The year was a success in terms of meeting my numerical goal, a learning experience, and a lot of fun. It gave me insights for my ongoing work on an annotated checklist and birding guide for the county. And it gives anyone else who is interested a number to shoot for. I don't doubt that 181 could be topped in Prince Edward County, as well as some adjacent counties in Virginia (especially Buckingham, which is larger and topographically more diverse, and Charlotte, which includes a little section of Kerr Reservoir). Who will do it?
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